W7 Canada Statement on the Absence of ‘Safe Abortion’ from the G7 Leaders’ Communiqué
On June 14th, the G7 leaders released their communique following their summit in Apulia, Italy. The communique’s gender equality section rightly raises concerns about the growing “rollback of rights of women, girls and LGBTQIA+ people around the world” and includes a commitment to promote and protect these rights. The text also commits to “universal access to adequate, affordable, and quality health services for women, including comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights for all.” While these are welcome and pertinent commitments, we are deeply concerned by the failure to refer explicitly to safe abortion as part of sexual and reproductive health care. This marks a change from previous years. This backsliding on G7 language is of grave concern at a time when the right to abortion is contested in many parts of the world and forms part of the global rollback on rights more broadly. We call on the Government of Canada to ensure support for safe abortion in in next year’s G7 Leaders’ Communique under its presidency and to be a steadfast champion for the full package of sexual and reproductive health and rights issues and services.