With the overturning of Roe v. Wade opening the door to abortion bans in the U.S., Canadian Tiktokers are Americans who are considering travelling north of the border to get an abortion.
âTo my American besties: I live 20 minutes from the Michigan border,â one TikTok user wrote in a video post. âIf you want to come âsee my cowsâ for the weekend let me know. I can give you a safe space while you recover from âseeing my cows.ââ
Canadian TikTokers, using the hashtag #wegodowntogether, are offering Americans a place to stay and recover, often under the guise of an innocuous activity, like âcampingâ or âvisiting friends.â
âIâm 90 minutes from the U.S. border at Niagara Falls and wine country,â wrote another TikToker. âMy 4 sisters and I would love to go âwine tastingâ with you and spend a few days recovering. Letâs hang out. Weâve got you.â
But what are the legal implications of Americans actually seeking the medical procedure in Canada?
Pam Hrick, general counsel for Womenâs Legal Education and Action Fund, says the issues that could arise depend on the particular state Americans are coming from.
âThere are no legal issues to come into the country and access that healthcare procedure,â she told CTVâs Your Morning on Tuesday. âThere are no laws right now in the States, criminalizing crossing the borders to get an abortion somewhere where it is legal. However, that might change. So itâs going to be important for people who are seeking the procedure to check in with local abortion care providers and supports to understand what the state of law is at the time of their thinking about access.â
Hrick also pointed out that, although Canadian healthcare does not have legal parameters that restrict abortion procedures, access complications are still a reality for many Canadians.
âRight now here in Canada we have access issues as well. There are no laws applicable to abortion care, and it is treated as healthcare,â Hrick said.
âWhether or not you could actually access that healthcare in this country depends on where you live, whether you can take time off work and you have to travel in order to access an abortion, whether there are local providers in your community. So it really isnât equitable across the country, and we need to take urgent action to address that,â she added.
Carolyn Egan, with the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada, said Americans seeking abortion would need to pay for the procedures themselves, which would not affect Canadaâs healthcare system.
âWe have situations now where the clinics in Toronto do offer abortions, mostly for people who might be internationals. They pay directly to the clinic. So itâs not an expense to [Canadaâs] healthcare system. If any women chooses to come here from the United States, they would not be accessing hospital abortions. They would be going to the free-standing clinics,â she explained
Despite the viral trend on TikTok, Egan says the number of Americans coming to Canada for the procedure is âfairly low.â
âFor the most part, Americans do not have passports. There are usually going to be more vulnerable women from low-income communities, Black and Hispanic communities, and the understanding that we have is that they will be given access to procedures in another state,â she said.
âCertainly Canadians are happy to welcome them if they do come,â Egan added.
This story has been updated to correct that there are no laws right now in the states criminalizing cross the borders to get an abortion somewhere it is legal.
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