Quebec abortion clinics say they are ready to welcome American women who would like to terminate a pregnancy, but they believe that traveling will remain too complicated and expensive.

• To read also: Right to abortion: American women “always welcome”, says Valérie Plante

“We decided to stand together. If women from the United States call us, we will welcome them with open arms,” says Patricia LaRue, director of the Clinique des femmes de l’Outaouais.

However, she does not know if these calls will materialize.

"It's possible [that American women turn to Quebec]," believes Jessica Legault of the Quebec Federation for Birth Planning (FQPN).

A corridor of services

She says she spoke with an American activist, based in Montreal, who would like to create a corridor of services for American women, but nothing concrete has yet been achieved.

She points out that the decision of the American Supreme Court allowing states to ban abortion, taken last Friday, will have repercussions for several years.

"This decision will mainly affect women who do not have the resources to pay for an abortion, let alone finance a trip," adds France Désilets of the Morgentaler Clinic in Montreal.

In addition, abortion is legal in all states bordering Quebec.

But Ms. Legault argues that states want to ban women from traveling for this procedure or even ban the abortion pill, which is still available everywhere by mail in the United States.

Above all, abortion clinics note that this American decision galvanizes anti-abortion activists in Quebec.

“We are not immune in Quebec, there are very active anti-choice groups,” continues Ms. Désilets.

In response to the reversal of Roe v. Wade in the United States, the mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, said yesterday that Quebecers should prepare to welcome American women who would like to protect themselves from the right to abortion.

– With the QMI Agency