Canadians watch as abortion rights supporters take wins out of U.S. midterms

Nov 9, 2022 | 10:46 AM

OTTAWA — A representative for Democrats Abroad says concern over the right to abortion was a motivating factor for those living outside the United States to vote in the country’s midterm elections.

Dianna English, who leads the Toronto chapter of the organization, says many people she spoke to were in “disbelief” that outlawing access to abortion was put back on the table this year.

The Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, which had protected abortion as a countrywide right, has led to near-complete bans on the procedure in a dozen states.

Democrats have seized on the issue, as did abortion rights advocates who are celebrating victories in the battleground state of Michigan, which voted to enshrine it into the constitution, as they did in California as well as Vermont, another border state.