Discoveries in the Making
A Different Kind of Tourism
Canadian women have traveled to other countries to access abortion services while abortion was illegal in Canada and even after it was legalized in 1969. While there is currently no federal law prohibiting abortion, women who are disadvantaged continue to travel within Canada to access these services.
Investigating the past and present of this type of travel — referred to as "abortion tourism" — in Canada is now the responsibility of Christabelle Sethna, an associate professor cross-appointed to the Institute of Women’s Studies and the Faculty of Health Sciences.
Sethna has previously conducted research into the history of sex education and contraception, receiving SSHRC funding to investigate the impact of the birth control pill on young, single women in universities in Canada between 1960 and 1980.
Through her work, Sethna has discovered that women who have class, racial and linguistic privileges, who can access education and professional opportunities, and who live in urban areas with access to medical care are able to take control of their fertility in ways that women without these advantages cannot.
Christabelle Sethna
Tel: (613) 562-5800, ext. 2356
E-mail: csethna@uOttawa.ca