Justin Trudeau: ‘Deeply Disappointed’ to See America ‘Backsliding’ on Abortion Rights

Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau said last Thursday that he is “deeply disappointed” by the recent passage of strict anti-abortion laws in several U.S. states.

“Obviously we are deeply disappointed by the backsliding on women’s rights that we’re seeing in some places around the world, including some American states,” Trudeau said during a press conference in Paris one day after Alabama Gov. Ivey Kay (R) signed a law outlawing virtually all abortions.

Trudeau then said Canada “unequivocally” supports a women’s reproduction rights, vowing pro-choice women “will always have an ally and a defender in Canada.”

“It’s a shame that we increasingly see conservative governments and conservative politicians taking away rights that have been hard-fought over many, many years by generations of women and male allies,” he lectured.

Abortion has been a legal right in Canada since 1988 when its own Supreme Court shot down laws against the procedure.

Republican governors in Georgia, Mississippi, and Ohio have signed their own “heartbeat” bills in the last year, barring the killing of infants after a fetal heartbeat is detected — which occurs within six weeks of pregnancy. Missouri lawmakers on Friday passed similar legislation, becoming the eighth state to do so. On the same day, the Texas House of Representatives approved a measure aimed at banning any state or local government from using taxpayer money to partner with abortion providers.