Bite 1 - What are equality rights for women and men?

Women's rights belong to a broader category called "equality rights." These are part of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms introduced in the early 1980s by the Trudeau government. For those readers who are unfamiliar with this bit of Canadiana, a brief explanation follows from the (now defunct) Court Challenges Program of Canada:

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a statement of our basic human rights and freedoms. Some of these are: the right to free expression and freedom of belief, the right to vote, the right to a fair process and trial if you are accused of a crime, the right to educate your children in your mother tongue, if you are from an official language minority community, and the right to equality. The Charter became part of Canada's Constitution in 1982.

The CPP goes on to explain what equality means:

Equality means giving every person equal respect in society. Sometimes, people are treated differently or unfairly because of things like the colour of their skin, their religion or a physical disability. This is called discrimination. Many groups of people through history have suffered discrimination. Equality means that all people are treated fairly, without discrimination.

Equality rights have been utilized in sorting out many societal and legal anomalies. Two illustrations of laws that were deemed to be in conflict with equality rights follow (again from the CPP):

1. A law which says that an Aboriginal women loses her legal status as an Aboriginal person if she marries someone without this status, but that an Aboriginal man may marry whomever he pleases without affecting his status

This law creates a direct difference in treatment on the basis of sex (gender) by singling out Aboriginal women and taking away their rights.

2. A law which says only married and opposite-sex common law couples can get certain tax breaks

This law creates a direct difference in treatment on the basis of sexual orientation by singling out people in same-sex relationships and denying them tax breaks.

But for our purposes we will focus on women's rights, particularly as they relate to life issues such as abortion.

The single most significant moment in the development of women's rights goes back to the famous Persons Case of 1929, nicely summarized by that invaluable source Wikipedia:

In 1927, five women from Alberta petitioned the Supreme Court [of Canada] to decide whether women were included in the definition of the word "persons" as used in the British North America Act (Canada's de facto constitution at the time). Hinging on this decision was whether women could be appointed to the Senate or not -- the body which approved divorces among other decisions important to women. The Supreme Court, interpreting the Act in light of the times in which it was written, ruled in 1928 that no, women were not "persons" and could not be so appointed.

The five women, led by Emily Murphy, appealed the case to the Judicial Committee of England's Privy Council. In 1929, the five Lords of the Committee ruled unanimously that "the word ‘persons' in Section 24 includes both the male and female sex.…" They called the earlier interpretation "a relic of days more barbarous than ours."

As the Virgina Slims tobacco company put it in their famous 1968 marketing campaign aimed at young professional women, "You've come a long way, baby." Of course, for Virginia Slims, this meant that women now had the equal right with men to inhale, and suffer a premature death from,  carcinogens. But the slogan was based on the growing feeling among women that they were beginning to be all that they were meant to be in a society previously dominated by the male of the species.

Much has been accomplished in this area of equality of the sexes since 1929. Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, for instance, makes this claim:

Canada is a world leader in the promotion and protection of women's rights and gender equality. These issues are central to Canada's foreign and domestic policies. Canada is committed to the view that gender equality is not only a human rights issue, but is also an essential component of sustainable development, social justice, peace, and security. These goals will only be achieved if women are able to participate as equal partners, decision makers, and beneficiaries of the sustainable development of their societies.

Judging from the list of women's rights organizations in Canada, however, many clearly feel that further progress is necessary. You can view this list at http://www.law-lib.utoronto.ca/diana/organizations.htm.

Women's rights have been expanded in many ways besides voting (or smoking). With respect to abortion, we must look at the key Supreme Court of Canada decision of 1988, again from Wikipedia:

In the R. v. Morgentaler case in 1988, Canada's abortion law was struck down by the Supreme Court using the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Bertha Wilson, the first woman on the Supreme Court, had been appointed in 1982. Section 287 of the Criminal Code states that abortion is a crime. However, section 7 of the Charter says "Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice." Henry Morgentaler, who was trying to establish abortion clinics, forced the courts to rule on this issue, and in 1988 the Supreme Court ruled that section 287 of the Criminal Code was of no force or effect.

This is where we will pick up in my next bite--er, post. What is the link between abortion and women's rights as the Supreme Court saw it?