Today marks the 17th anniversary of the Morgentaler decision by the Supreme Court of Canada. It was the decision that decriminalized abortion on January 28, 1988.

Since then, access to abortion services across the country has become considerably better — except in those provinces, such as Quebec and New Brunswick, which refuse to accept the Supreme Court decision and refuse to pay for clinic abortions. Prince Edward Island provides no abortion services and women have to travel elsewhere to get them.

And so the struggle goes on. On December 22, 2004, in a landmark ruling, Associate Chief Justice Jeffrey Oliphant of the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench blasted the Manitoba government for violating Charter rights in refusing to fund private abortions. The class action was brought by two women who faced eight-week waits for abortions in public hospitals. They were treated swiftly at the Morgentaler Clinic but the province refused to pay. By refusing, said Judge Oliphant, the Manitoba government was violating such Charter rights as freedom of conscience, security of the person and gender equality. A similar class-action suit is pending in Quebec.

In New Brunswick, the provincial government is also refusing to fund abortions at the Morgentaler Clinic, creating hardship and danger to women in a province short of hospital abortion services. Since class-action suits are not available in New Brunswick, I have personally started a legal suit against the New Brunswick government. But it is proceeding at a snail’s pace. Clearly, the actions of such provincial governments are in violation of the Canada Health Act and the federal Charter of Rights.

The abortion issue, dormant in Canada for many years, became important in the last federal election: Prominent Conservative candidates convinced many Canadians that they would endanger abortion rights if given a majority, while the NDP and the Liberals promised to protect a woman’s right to choose.

Prime Minister Paul Martin has vowed to protect the Canada Health Act. So far, nothing has been done. The federal government has the power to penalize provinces that violate the principles of the Canada Health Act. This has not been done.

There is an alternative: The federal government can bring this issue before an arbitration board created to adjudicate conflicts between the two levels of government. Indeed, the least Ottawa could do is raise the issue of provincial governments refusing to honour the Canada Health Act and the Charter rights of women before an arbitration board. It is unfair that the quest for justice should be borne by women courageous enough to go the route of a class-action suit or by private citizens like myself.

The fact that safe medical abortions are available in most regions of the country has benefited the health of women and of society. Women no longer die of illegal or self-induced abortions. Fewer unwanted children are being born; fewer are being neglected or brutalized, which I’d argue has resulted in a dramatic reduction in violent crime over time as well as an improvement in the emotional health of young people.