Action Canada and Global Partners Unite to Advance Equitable Reproductive Health Amid Rising Global Rollbacks

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 30, 2026

Ottawa, ON — Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights alongside leading international partners are proud to announce the launch of the Strengthening Health Systems Integrated & Transformative SRHR (SHIFTS) project — a groundbreaking initiative designed to transform how sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) are delivered in Benin, Mozambique, and Nigeria, through resilient, integrated health systems.

“This work has never been more urgent,” says Meghan Doherty, Director of Policy and Advocacy at Action Canada. “In a moment where the health and rights are rights of women girls and marginalized people are under threat around the world in, we are building coalitions that will hold the line and work for change.”

Continued: https://www.actioncanadashr.org/news/2026-03-30-action-canada-and-global-partners-unite-advance-equitable-reproductive-health-amid-rising-global

Foreign aid groups urge Canada to maintain funding for abortion, LGBTQ+ advocacy

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press
Feb 16, 2026

OTTAWA - Feminist and development groups are urging Canada not to turn its back on funding reproductive health and gender initiatives, as Canada focuses its foreign aid cuts on global health programming.

"A bold diplomatic voice is really crucial," Oxfam Canada executive director Lauren Ravon told a panel she hosted on Parliament Hill earlier this month.

Continued: https://www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/national/foreign-aid-groups-urge-canada-to-maintain-funding-for-abortion-lgbtq-advocacy/article_322b0c7b-beef-5035-87ec-405a44751a26.html

CANADA – Reproductive health advocates still waiting for Holt to keep promise of free birth control

With gender-based violence declared an epidemic, advocates say it’s time for province to fulfill promise

Hope Edmond · CBC News
Feb 03, 2026

Advocates are calling on the New Brunswick government to make good on its pledge to implement universal, no-cost contraception coverage.

Premier Susan Holt promised to make birth control free during her election campaign in 2024 by signing a pharmacare agreement with the federal government.

“We’re disappointed that the Holt government hasn’t signed a pharmacare deal,” said Tracy Glynn, a founder of Reproductive Justice New Brunswick and the national director of projects and operations for the Canadian Health Coalition.

Continued : https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/pharmacare-free-contraceptives-9.7068501

Canada – Pro-choice group warns of new abortion ‘disinformation’ on social media

Recently published videos show the co-founder of a pro-life group posing as someone interested in accessing an abortion, including at a clinic in Toronto

Gabe Oatley
Nov 21, 2025

One of the country’s leading pro-choice organizations is raising alarm about a new social media campaign it says is distorting public perception of abortion access in Canada.

Over the past 10 days, RightNow, a pro-life advocacy organization, has released a series of videos on social media showing the group’s co-founder, Alissa Golob, allegedly speaking with staff at four Canadian clinics in 2023 about getting an abortion.

Continued: https://www.torontotoday.ca/local/health/abortion-disinformation-social-media-pro-choice-group-warning-11517455

21.11.2025

Commentary

Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights

Alissa Golob

Cabbagetown Clinic

Dr. Lynn Murphy-Kaulbeck

Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada

Trudeau made headlines with free birth control. Why didn’t Canada follow through?

Nearly a year after a historic law promised free contraception, most provinces still haven’t signed on

Olivia Bowden in Toronto
Wed 24 Sep 2025

It was touted as a historic move that would change lives: in October 2024, Canada passed new legislation making all birth control free.

Justin Trudeau, then prime minister, called the bill’s passing “real progress”. The leftwing New Democratic party took credit, saying they had convinced Trudeau’s governing Liberals to move ahead with it. The bill didn’t just cover birth control: it made diabetes medication free, too, and ushered in a legal framework to possibly cover all prescription medication in the future: a national pharmacare plan.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/24/canada-free-birth-control-law

United States Blocks Global Funding for Sexual and Reproductive Rights. Again.

Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights
Jan 27, 2025

In his first week in office, Donald Trump reinstated the Global Gag Rule, re-igniting a crisis for global health and reproductive rights. This policy restricts non-US organizations from receiving US international assistance if they provide, educate, refer or advocate for safe abortion, even with resources from other donors.

First introduced in 1984 under President Ronald Reagan, the Global Gag Rule is a policy that has been repeatedly repealed and reinstated depending on the U.S. administration. Research shows that this policy increases maternal mortality, reduces access to contraception, and pushes people toward unsafe abortions.

Continued: https://www.actioncanadashr.org/news/2025-01-27-united-states-blocks-global-funding-sexual-and-reproductive-rights-again

Canadian abortion group says it may have to shutter after losing government funding

Hannah Alberga, The Canadian Press
Jan 28, 2025

A national group that helps people who have trouble accessing abortion services says it may be forced to shut down in several months after Health Canada declined to renew its funding for the upcoming year.

Abortion Care Canada says it had sought $1.3 million from the federal government's Sexual and Reproductive Health Fund for the next fiscal year but will get nothing, despite having received about $2.2 million in total since the fund was established in 2021.

Continued: https://www.timescolonist.com/health/canadian-abortion-group-says-it-may-have-to-shutter-after-losing-government-funding-10144887

Canada – Liberals take ‘softer approach’ on pledge to revoke charity status for pregnancy counselling

Trudeau had promised to 'no longer provide charity status to anti-abortion organizations' that offer 'dishonest counselling to women'

Stephanie Taylor, National Post
Nov 01, 2024

OTTAWA — Federal New Democrats are criticizing the Liberals’ plan to allow charities offering pregnancy counselling to keep their tax status if they advertise how their services exclude abortion — a move that differs from what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had promised during the last federal election.

In 2021, Trudeau ran on a platform that included a promise to “no longer provide charity status to anti-abortion organizations” that provide “dishonest counselling to women” about their pregnancy options.

Continued: https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/liberals-take-softer-approach-pledge-revoking-charity-status-pregnancy-counselling

New legislation would make ‘crisis pregnancy centres’ disclose whether they provide abortion support

Crisis pregnancy centres that fail to follow proposed rules would risk losing their charitable status

Darren Major · CBC News
Oct 29, 2024

The federal government has introduced legislation that would require charities providing reproductive health services to state clearly whether they offer abortion or abortion referrals.

Organizations that fail to clearly tell their clients whether they provide these services could risk losing their charitable status.

Marci Ien, the minister for women and gender equality, said Tuesday the legislation is meant to combat the spread of "misinformation" by some charities that operate crisis pregnancy centres.

Continued: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/abortion-services-charitable-status-1.7366854

‘The hope of the country’: Reproductive health activist on El Salvador’s historic abortion case

October 29, 2024
By Tracy Glynn

Wendy Barrera Rivas from El Salvador was one of three youth activists touring eastern Canada this month. At every stop, she shares the story of Beatriz, who she calls “the hope of the country.”

Beatriz was a 21-year-old mother living with lupus and in extreme poverty in El Salvador when she became pregnant with a fetus that was developing without a skull and brain. Doctors advised her to end her pregnancy that was putting her life at risk. Due to a ban on abortion in El Salvador, Beatriz was unable to get an abortion. Her health suffered and tragically, in 2017, she died from injuries sustained in a road accident. She was 27.

Continued: https://www.healthcoalition.ca/youth-activists-tour-canada-to-talk-about-sexual-and-reproductive-health-and-rights/