By Kanishka Singh

(Reuters) – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vowed to defend abortion rights because the decades-old battle over the difficulty exploded anew this week in Canada’s southern neighbor, with the U.S. Supreme Court docket apparently set to overturn the decades-old ruling that legalized the process nationwide.

“A lady’s free alternative is a option to be made by her alone. Each lady in Canada has the best to a authorized and protected abortion,” Trudeau instructed reporters earlier than a gathering of Liberal lawmakers in Ottawa on Wednesday.

A draft U.S. Supreme Court docket determination, leaked late on Monday, confirmed a majority of justices ready to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade determination that protects abortion rights. The court docket on Tuesday confirmed the authenticity of the leaked doc.

“We all know that sadly, what we’re seeing with our neighbors within the south and even in debates throughout the Conservative Get together of Canada, that we have to be certain that there are protections in place in order that we by no means see individuals backtracking on that proper,” Trudeau stated.

He added that Canada will take into account authorized choices if such rights are prone to violation within the nation.

“Now we have requested the ministers to check out this (evaluate of the authorized framework) in a short time and we’ll see what the timeline is for that,” Trudeau stated.

Canada’s Supreme Court docket decriminalized abortion in a historic 1988 ruling. Ostensibly, since then, abortion has been a medical process like some other. However limitations to entry persist, particularly for individuals residing outdoors city areas.

Canada’s prime court docket is unlikely to re-criminalize abortion any time quickly. But when the U.S. Supreme Court docket overturns Roe v. Wade, that would embolden anti-abortion actions and provoke pro-choice activists, Canadian observers and advocates on either side of the divisive difficulty famous.

U.S. President Joe Biden appealed to voters on Tuesday to guard abortion rights by backing candidates who assist them in November’s mid-term elections.