BREAKING B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton dead following prison attack
Convicted B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton, who preyed on women he lured from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside to his rural pig farm, has died.
The end of constitutional protections for abortions in the United States on Friday emboldened abortion opponents around the world, while advocates for abortion rights worried it could threaten recent moves toward legalization in their countries.
The U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision "shows that these types of rights are always at risk of being steamrolled," said Ruth Zurbriggen, an Argentinian activist and member of the Companion Network of Latin America and the Caribbean, a group favouring abortion rights.
But in El Salvador, anti-abortion campaigner Sara Larin expressed hope the ruling will bolster campaigns against the procedure around the globe.
"I trust that with this ruling it will be possible to abolish abortion in the United States and throughout the world," said Larin, president of Fundacion Vida SV.
In Kenya, Phonsina Archane watched news of Friday's ruling and said she froze for a while in a state of panic.
"This is being done in America, which should be an example when it comes to the women's rights movement," said Archane, an activist for abortion rights. "If this is happening in America, what about me here in Africa? It's a very, very sad day."
She worried the ruling will embolden abortion opponents across Africa who have charged into reproductive health clinics or threatened attacks. "There is no safe place on the continent," she said.
Abortion in sub-Saharan Africa is already more unsafe than in any other region of the world, and the overwhelming majority of women of child-bearing age live in countries where abortion laws are highly or moderately restricted, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a New York-based research organization that supports abortion rights.
Archane said civil society groups in Africa will have to come together to work out strategies on how to keep themselves and women safe. Just months ago, many saw hope when the World Health Organization released guidelines on quality abortion care, she said. "We had a step ahead, and now we have to go five steps back again."
The decision, which leaves it up to lawmakers in individual U.S. state to decide whether to allow or ban abortions, lit up social media across Argentina, where a law that legalized elective abortion up to the 14th week of gestation took effect in January 2021 after years of debate.
Anti-abortion activists cheered the ruling, with legislator Amalia Granata tweeting: "There is justice again in the world. We are going to achieve this in Argentina too!!"
In more Conservative countries like El Salvador, where abortions are illegal no matter the circumstance and where some 180 women with obstetric emergencies have been criminally prosecuted in the last two decades, Larin warned that the ruling could inspire yet more efforts to loosen abortion restrictions outside the U.S.
"Campaigns promoting abortion may intensify in our countries because funding and abortion clinics in the United States are going to close as they have been doing in recent years," she said.
At the Vatican, the head of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, joined U.S. bishops in saying it is a time for reflection, healing wounds and civil dialogue.
"The fact that a large country with a long democratic tradition has changed its position on this issue also challenges the whole world." the academy said.
In Mexico, lawyer and activist Veronica Cruz said the ruling could give a boost to anti-abortion groups, but added it likely won't have any impact in Mexico where 10 of the country's 32 states have legalized abortion up to 12 weeks gestation in recent years.
She noted the ruling could lead to an increase in calls for help from U.S. women seeking to have abortions in Mexico or to buy pills to interrupt pregnancies at Mexican pharmacies.
So far this year, local activists have accompanied some 1,500 U.S. women who travelled to Mexico for those purposes, Cruz said.
Ricardo Cano, with the anti-abortion group National Front for Life, also doubts the ruling would have any impact in Mexico or elsewhere in Latin America, given the advance of leftist ideologies in the region.
Colombia, which became in February the latest Latin American country to expand access to abortion, also will not be affected by the ruling, said Catalina Martinez Coral, director for Latin America and the Caribbean for the Center for Reproductive Rights.
Ahead of U.S. President Joe Biden's trip overseas, the heads of at least two Group of Seven members called the decision "horrific."
"No government, politician or man should tell a woman what she can and cannot do with her body," said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, adding that he "can't imagine the fear and anger" women in the U.S. must be experiencing in the wake of the ruling.
The French Foreign Ministry urged U.S. federal authorities "to do everything possible" to ensure American women have continued access to abortions, calling it a "health and survival issue." France's president, Emmanuel Macron, added in a tweet that "abortion is a fundamental right of all women."
New Zealand's prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, said: "Watching the removal of a woman's fundamental right to make decisions over their own body is incredibly upsetting. Here in New Zealand we recently legislated to decriminalize abortion and treat it as a health rather than criminal issue.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization, said on Twitter that he was "concerned and disappointed" by the ruling. saying it reduces both "women's rights and access to health care."
The UN agency dealing with sexual and reproductive health said that whether or not abortion is legal "it happens all too often" and global data shows that restricting access makes abortion more deadly.
The United Nations Population Fund issued a statement following the Supreme Court's decision noting that its 2022 report said that nearly half of all pregnancies worldwide are unintended and over 60% of those pregnancies may end in abortion.
"A staggering 45% of all abortions around the world are unsafe, making this a leading cause of maternal death," the agency said.
It said almost all unsafe abortions occur in developing countries, and it fears that "more unsafe abortions will occur around the world if access to abortion becomes more restricted."
In the only part of Latin America directly affected by the ruling, Puerto Rico, the island's Senate approved a bill Tuesday that would prohibit abortions after 22 weeks or when a doctor determines a fetus is viable, with the sole exception being if a woman's life is in danger. The bill is now before the island's House of Representatives.
Dr. Migna Rivera Garcia, president of Puerto Rico's Association of Psychologists, said the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling has prompted abortion rights activists to reformulate their strategy.
"It causes a lot of uncertainty given the environment right now in Puerto Rico," she said. "This bill harms poor women and black women the most. ... They don't have access to services like other social groups."
------
Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Associated Press writers Almudena Calatrava in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Marcos Aleman in San Salvador, El Salvador; Edith Lederer at the United Nations; Fabiola Sanchez in Mexico City; Frances D'Emilio in Rome; Astrid Suarez in Bogota, Colombia, and AP journalists around the world contributed to this report
-------
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, CTVNews.ca wants to hear from Canadians who have had an abortion.
Did you struggle to access abortion services or information in Canada? Was it difficult to secure an appointment?
Tell us your story by emailing dotcom@bellmedia.ca, and include your name and location. Your comments may be used in a CTVNews.ca story.
Convicted B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton, who preyed on women he lured from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside to his rural pig farm, has died.
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
The Department of National Defence is moving approximately 1,000 employees out of an office building in Ottawa's Lowertown neighbourhood, citing safety concerns for its employees.
A newborn is dead after being delivered via emergency C-section to a woman in police custody.
A day after a New York jury delivered a historic guilty verdict in Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee held a press conference Friday where he spoke publicly about the conviction and his White House bid.
Health Canada recalled various items this week, including more unauthorized products, counterfeit drugs and bassinets.
Jennifer Lopez has cancelled her 2024 North American tour, representatives for Live Nation confirmed to The Associated Press.
Newly released documents suggest Ontario’s so-called ‘Crypto King’ paid for months of world travels with $13,000 worth of Scene+ points while bankrupt – but how?
Women who closely followed a Mediterranean diet lived much longer than those who did not, according to a new study that followed more than 25,000 women for 25 years.
A hefty donation by a renowned local activist to the University of Winnipeg has created what is believed to be the most comprehensive two-spirit archives in all of Canada.
Leanne Van Bergen discovered a skulk of 10 baby foxes, and two mothers, had made themselves at home on her property in Beausejour.
An 81-year-old Waterloo, Ont. woman thought she’d never ride a horse again after a brain bleed led to severe physical complications.
A CP24 camera caught the moment a driver frantically got out of her car as it was being dragged by a truck on Avenue Road Wednesday afternoon.
Prince Edward Island is celebrating its first-ever International Day of Potato on Thursday.
The president of Covered Bridge Chips in New Brunswick is hoping to have his factory rebuilt for late 2025 following a devastating fire last year.
Students and staff at Winnipeg’s Westwood Collegiate had a unique problem to solve this month; how do you lead ducks to water from the school’s courtyard when 12 of them can’t fly yet?
Debby Lorinczy remembers her father as an amazing person and as a man who also made an amazing discovery.
Abigail Strate is a member of the Canadian national ski jumping team and an Olympic bronze medallist. She's also a certified beekeeper.