N.L. abortion activists condemn overturning of Roe v. Wade opinion

The decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the Roe v. Wade opinion that secured constitutional protections for abortion is being panned by activists in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The ruling, which has the potential to limit abortion access across the country by allowing U.S. states to restrict or ban the procedure, was leaked last month after a draft of the ruling was made public.

At least 13 states have trigger laws in place regarding limiting abortion, which will come into effect as soon as the opinion is overturned.

Although Abortion Rights Activist Jenn Deon knew the ruling was coming, it didn't make digesting the decision any easier.

"You're still angry. You're still shocked. It's hard to believe that they would take such a backwards step with human rights," Deon told CBC News Friday.

Deon said the decision won't stop abortions from happening in the country, but it will make the choice to do so unsafe for women.

"A woman's right to access healthcare is such a basic thing…They're going to be split by an economic divide of who can afford to travel to somewhere where they can access this care," she said. "It is a dramatic impact on millions of lives."

Noreen Golfman helped set up Newfoundland and Labrador's first abortion clinic in the late 1980s, working with Henry Morgentaler, a Canadian physician considered a pioneer for abortion rights in the country.

She sees the decision having devastating consequences in the United States.

"What I do hope we see is huge amounts of resistance in all the right places. People have to vote to challenge and resist, and to work for the future," Golfman said.

"I think it really sets the United States of America up as a kind outlier in the western world. It's not just sending women's rights backwards, it's like sending the whole country backwards in so many ways."

When asked about why people in Newfoundland and Labrador should care about the decision coming from south of the border, Golfman says she believes there are some similar sentiments in Canada that could be felt across the country as a result of the ruling.

"Perhaps not so much that we feel it here, but we know it's present in pockets of the country…I don't want to say it's a domino effect, but our rights need to be defended."

"Abortion care cannot be taken for granted. It's not an easy thing, and it needs to be protected for even women here in Newfoundland and Labrador," Deon added.