Abortion Caravan

The Abortion Caravan was a protest movement formed in Canada in 1970 by members of the Vancouver Women's Caucus. It was created to oppose provisions in the Criminal Code which restricted legal access to abortion. Members formed a caravan, emulating previous peripatetic protest movements, traveled from Vancouver to Ottawa and gathered support along the way. Hundreds of women across Canada engaged in protests at the Prime Minister's official residence, burning effigies and leaving a black coffin at the front door. These protests sparked wider debate and contributed to abortion laws being struck down in 1988.

History

In February 1970, members of the Vancouver Women's Caucus (VWC) (1968-1971) gathered to begin planning the Abortion Caravan, the first national protest organized by Canada's women’s liberation movement. Many members of VWC were part of New Left organizations and were either students or worked on university campuses. The Abortion Caravan expressed opposition to the 1969 amendments to section 251 of the Criminal Code, which legalized abortion only in cases where pregnancy threatened the health of the mother. Under the amendment, abortions could only be performed by a licensed physician in an accredited hospital, and only after being approved by a therapeutic abortion committee (T.A.C.) consisting of a three-member panel of doctors. All other abortions, performed without the approval of a T.A.C. or in free-standing clinics, continued to be illegal and subject to criminal code sanctions. The T.A.C. system proved to be inaccessible to most women. More specifically, organizations such as the VWC, felt the TAC process was often too slow and was unattainable for low-income women.

In mid–April 1970 a delegation of the VWC set out from Vancouver in a yellow convertible, a pickup truck, and a Volkswagen bus with a black coffin strapped on the roof. Aimed at emulating the On-to-Ottawa Trek of the Depression era, the Abortion Caravan traveled from Vancouver to Ottawa, stopping in twelve communities to galvanize support. As they traveled to Ottawa, members of the VWC stopped in cities and towns every night, holding public meetings and listening to women’s concerns so they could bring their voices to the government. Along the way, the participants also held guerilla theatre performances.

The Abortion Caravan arrived in Ottawa on Mother’s Day weekend 1970. A convoy of Canadian women, over five hundred strong in support, arrived – coat hangers and a black coffin in tow – to demand the legalization of unrestricted access to abortion services for all Canadian women.

Participants of the Abortion Caravan declared “war on the Government of Canada”, with hundreds of women from across Canada rallying for two days on Parliament Hill. At 24 Sussex Drive, the official residence of the Prime Minister, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau was burned in effigy. A black coffin adorned with coat hangers, representing women who had died from self-induced or back-alley abortions, was left at the Prime Minister’s front door.

On May 11, 1970, about 80 women donning black headscarves arrived at the House of Commons. The women surrounded the centennial flame carrying a black coffin. Approximately three dozen women, dressed in feminine attire, including heels and skirts, pantyhose and gloves, entered the House of Commons taking their seats in the various galleries circling the House. Once seated, the women quietly chained themselves to their seats, listening intently as, on the House floor, NDP MP Andrew Brewin asked the Minister of Justice John Turner if he would consider reviewing the abortion law; Turner said he doubted the law would be reviewed, closing discussion on the matter.

Just before 3 p.m., one of the women rose from her seat in the gallery and began reciting the Abortion Caravan’s prepared speech, interrupting debate on the floor of the House of Commons. As parliamentary guards approached the woman, a second woman stood up in another area of the gallery and continued to give the group’s speech. One by one, the women rose from their seats, adding their voices to the group’s speech and chanting “free abortions on demand”.

As Parliamentary guards moved through the galleries apprehending the protesters and forcibly removing the women from their seats, one woman reportedly “hurled a water bomb at the government benches before being rushed by security officers and marched from the building” other women had their chains “removed by bolt-cutting guards and were heckled by onlookers as they were escorted from House”. The gallery disturbance caused by activists served as the climax of the Abortion Caravan, provoking the first time in its 103-year history that the House of Commons was forced to shut down because of a protest.



References

“Fighting the Good Fight: Legalized Abortion in Canada”. Canadian Public Health Association. May 2010. Archived from the original on January 3, 2015. Retrieved April 13, 2012.

Stettner, Shannon. ”‘We Are Forced to Declare War’: Linkages between the 1970 Abortion Caravan and Women's Anti–Vietnam War Activism. Histoire sociale/Social history 46, no. 92 (2013): 423–441.

Sethna, Christabelle; Hewitt, Steve (September 2009). “Clandestine Operations: The Vancouver Women's Caucus, the Abortion Caravan, and the RCMP”. The Canadian Historical Review. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: University of Toronto Press. 90 (3): 463-495. ISSN 0008–3755. Retrieved 24 April 2018 – via Project MUSE.

Dunsmuir, Mollie (August 18, 1998). “Abortion: Constitutional and Legal Developments” Parliament of Canada. Retrieved April 13, 2012.

“50 years ago, the women of Canada's 'Abortion Caravan' stormed Parliament for reproductive rights.” CBC Radio June 1, 2018. Accessed September 28, 2018.

Sethna, Christabelle and Shannon Stettner. “The Women Are Coming; The Abortion Caravan of 1970.” Activehistory.ca. May 11, 2015. Accessed September 29, 2018.

Dunsmuir, Mollie (August 18, 1998). “Abortion: Constitutional and Legal Developments”. Parliament of Canada. Retrieved April 13, 2012.

“50 years ago, the women of Canada's 'Abortion Caravan' stormed Parliament for reproductive rights.” CBC Radio June 1, 2018. Accessed September 28, 2018.

Sethna, Christabelle and Shannon Stettner. “The Women Are Coming; The Abortion Caravan of 1970.” Activehistory.ca. May 11, 2015. Accessed September 29, 2018.

Karin, Wells. The Women Are Coming (CBC Radio: The Sunday Edition) (Radio). CBC Radio.

Wasserlein, Fances. “An Arrow Aimed at the Heart: The Vancouver Women's Caucus and the Abortion Caravan of 1970” (PDF). Simon Fraser University. Retrieved April 13, 2012.

Rebick, Judy (2005). Ten Thousand Roses: The Making of a Feminist Revolution. Toronto: Penguin Canada.

Bronskill, Jim. “RCMP spies saw women's movement through 'red–tinged prism,' new book says.” CTV News. April 22, 2018.

Ormsby, Mary (May 30, 2010). “The 'Abortion Caravan' Succeeded. Or Did It?”. Toronto Star. Retrieved April 13, 2012.

Gallop, Angie (July 2007). “Abortion Caravan, 1970: Ladies Close the House”. This Magazine. Archived from the original on May 19, 2012. Retrieved April 13, 2012.

The Fight for Reproductive Choice – The Vancouver Women's Caucus (Binder Sheet – Participant Manual). Women's Conference. 2010.

Stettner, Shannon and Christabelle Sethna, “Reassessing the Abortion Caravan.” Activehistory.ca. May 26, 2015 Accessed September 29, 2018.



Subject headings

Abortion – New Left – Reproductive Rights – Women’s Health – Women’s Liberation Movement – Women’s Movement



Adapted from an article in Wikipedia.