Opinion: Albertans' reproductive rights are under threat. Here's why.

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At a town hall event for UCP party members last month, Premier Danielle Smith described plans to transfer much of Alberta’s hospital operations away from the province’s health authority — Alberta Health Services — to organizations such as Covenant Health. At first glance, this might not seem like a big deal. But it is.

Covenant is a faith-based Catholic health-care provider that doesn’t provide certain services, citing religious grounds. Abortions, MAID, gender-affirming care and emergency contraception are all off limits. Smith seemed to express a particular focus on shifting hospital operations in rural communities. This risks the creation of vast deserts across the province lacking access to these services.

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Yes, this is legal in provinces across Canada, but the story doesn’t end here.

Let’s rewind. In late 2023, Preston Manning led a review of Alberta’s COVID response. Miffed by vaccine mandates, Manning and his panel recommended reforms to the provincial charter, the Alberta Bill of Rights. Last week, a draft of the revised bill of rights was leaked — apparently.

A website for anti-abortion activists — LifeSiteNews — says it got a leaked draft of the document from an anonymous UCP-connected source. The draft includes the following: “All living persons within Alberta have the God-given right to life. A living person includes all persons at all stages of life from conception, gestation in the womb, to birth and throughout their life up until natural death.”

So what’s on the line here? Abortion (from conception, gestation in the womb) and assisted dying (up until natural death) are directly in the crosshairs. So is emergency contraception. If these words become law, Albertans’ freedom to undergo IVF would also be threatened.

As the draft has garnered significant attention, political distancing is in full swing.

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An unnamed UCP MLA told LifeSiteNews that they hoped the draft passes into law with minimal, if any, changes. They also expressed fears that the draft will be “watered down.”

If we’re to take LifeSite at its word, is this an implicit verification of the document’s authenticity?

Meanwhile, National Post correspondent Tyler Dawson received this comment from the provincial Justice minister’s office: “This document is not a draft of the Alberta Bill of Rights or an official document related to it in any way.”

Yes, it might seem absurd to think Alberta’s government would pass a bill like this knowing the implications. Is it any more absurd than pulling the province out of the Canada Pension Plan? To those who would assert that the Smith government would have a legal fight on its hands, I’ll direct your attention to every premier’s best friend, the Notwithstanding Clause.

The draft is on its way to becoming a story of national significance, circulating far beyond what I believe was its intended audience. I expect we’ll see further backing away from Smith’s office and the UCP in the coming days.

But what about the plan to transfer hospital operations to a Catholic organization? I expect they’ll be leaning into that one.

Nick Tsergas is the health news editor at Canada Healthwatch.

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