Mark Carney giving his victory speech on election night.
Mark Carney giving his victory speech on election night. Credit: Mark Carney / X Credit: Mark Carney / X

For advocates of gender equality and reproductive rights, Canada’s 2025 federal election was particularly nerve-wracking. Despite Pierre Poilievre’s claim that his party would not seek to make abortion illegal, the Conservatives ran several new candidates who were explicitly anti-choice, and the party platform would have had a negative impact on reproductive rights, including by reducing access to abortion. 

These impacts would have been just one consequence of a Conservative Government’s embrace of right-wing ‘anti-woke’ discourse and policy, which also included attacks on gender diversity and trans rights. Despite the threats posed by such discourse, the Conservative Party garnered significant support during the election campaign, positioning themselves as the party best able to grow Canada’s economy. Shortly before the election and in the context of threatened tariffs from the US, Canadians identified the cost of living and affordability as the issue that was most likely to influence their vote. 

As a voter, it often felt like the choice was between economic growth and socially progressive policies that protect marginalized groups. This perceived dichotomy was reinforced by the Liberal Party’s move away from former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s branding as a feminist and socially progressive leader, and towards now Prime Minister Mark Carney’s image as a competent economic expert. Yet this dominant framing obscures how investments in social services, including reproductive health, have positive economic impacts and are critical to helping Canadians navigate the growing cost of living. 

Economic benefits of abortion access 

Abortion and other reproductive healthcare services are vital to the economic success and freedom of women and people who can become pregnant. The high cost of living makes raising children expensive, and being able to prevent and terminate unwanted pregnancy is one way that people can opt out of these costs. 

Research shows that access to abortion is associated with stronger socio-economic status among women as well as children. In contrast, the inability to access abortion is linked to economic insecurity. Removing economic barriers to abortion, and to all forms of reproductive health care, eases the overall economic burden for all who need that care, while reducing inequities in access. 

Being able to prevent or end pregnancy means people are better able to pursue higher education, fulfill their goals, and potentially become more economically independent. While pursuing higher education is not the only way to achieve economic security, it is one pathway to increasing one’s earning potential. A 2024 study found that overall levels of educational attainment and economic stability were higher for young women who lived in areas of the US where abortion is accessible, compared to areas where access was more restrictive. This same study found that within a group of pregnant women under the age of 20, those who were able to terminate a pregnancy were more likely to graduate from college and less likely to face economic challenges in the future. Separate studies have shown similar relationships between the ability to access abortion and to complete post-secondary degrees, including one that found the relationship is even stronger for Black women within the U.S. 

Abortion restrictions make it harder to access education and are thus associated with lower socioeconomic status and participation in lower wage labour. Access to abortion is hence a key factor in allowing people to achieve educational goals and economic security, and is especially important for those who experience intersecting forms of oppression such as racism. Of course, other forms of social support may also make higher education and economic security more accessible for parents. Taking a Reproductive Justice approach means that abortion and reproductive healthcare should be an essential part of a more substantive social safety net. 

Reproductive Justice and the need for an interconnected approach 

Talking about abortion access as an economic issue can be fraught and should not fall into the trap of treating reproductive rights only as tools for economic growth. If we understand reproductive health and access to abortion as fundamental human rights, we should be careful about overvaluing them for their economic outcomes. 

Fundamental human rights are non-negotiable and should not be recognized solely as a contributor to economic growth.

Further, we need to be careful not to use these benefits to reinforce the idea that only certain people should have children. Unfortunately, contraception and abortion advocacy has historically relied on and even reinforced eugenic thinking with the premise that society would be better off if certain groups of people have fewer or even no children. For example, the perceived “over-fertility” of those living in poverty has been demonized as a drain on state resources. This framework can reinforce the myth that poverty is primarily the consequence of individual choices rather than systemic issues, and that those who make “irresponsible” reproductive choices do not deserve social support. 

Given that economic marginalization intersects with other forms of oppression, such as racism, colonialism, and ableism, focusing on allowing those in poverty to limit fertility can reinforce Reproductive Stratification: a process wherein the reproduction of marginalized communities (e.g. Black, Indigenous, Disabled) is devalued and discouraged. 

The potential harm of seeing abortion access as only a form of economic empowerment, without grappling with the complex history, is why the Reproductive Justice Framework is so crucial. This framework was developed by women of colour to better capture their own reproductive experiences, including how their reproduction has been devalued and at times coercively controlled. Rooted in these experiences, the framework recognizes that true reproductive freedom means not only the ability to choose not to have children but also the ability to choose to have children and to parent one’s children in safety and dignity. Furthermore, it draws attention to the various social, economic, and environmental factors that shape one’s ability to make reproductive choices, including poverty and economic oppression. 

Reproductive Justice extends beyond access to abortion and other forms of reproductive health care and considers all elements that impact our ability to make choices about if, when and how we have and raise our children. Issues such as housing, employment, childcare, and pharmacare are all relevant to reproductive justice. The Demand Better Campaign, led by Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights during the federal election, demonstrated some of the ways that these issues are interconnected. 

Conclusion: 

Dominant framings, such as those we saw in the 2025 federal election, can make it seem as though social issues like access to reproductive healthcare are luxuries that can be sorted out once we get the economy back on track. Some voters may also feel as though economic growth (and its presumed benefits) is more urgent, and more “life or death” than the less tangible values of gender equality or reproductive rights. Yet this framework ignores the urgency of these issues to those who are most affected by them, as well as the ways they are deeply interconnected with economic issues and systems. 

While care needs to be taken when talking about the relationship between reproductive health, abortion access, and the economy, acknowledging this relationship can help us understand why protecting reproductive rights does not mean de-prioritizing the economy – or vice versa. As our new Canadian government moves toward significant cuts to social services, including a devastating decrease in funding for the Women and Gender Equality ministry, it’s important to keep this relationship in mind and reject cuts that will reduce the economic and reproductive freedom of women and those who can become pregnant.

Jacqueline Potvin

Jacqueline Potvin is a feminist researcher and writer, specializing in reproductive justice, health and global development. She holds a PhD in Women’s Studies and Feminist Research from Western University...