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Parenting in Safety
From: Abortion to Abolition
$3.00
The right to parent in safe and sustainable communities involves layers of social, political, economic and environmental protections; this chapter covers just some of the key issues this aspect of reproductive justice unearths and is a condemnation of colonial, xenophobic and racist state practices in relation to their impact on the right to parent. The first section of this chapter puts together two critical incidents in the history of how Canada has failed to protect the right to parent. The next section explains the 1996 fight of Donna George to have control over her own body during pregnancy, after the province of Manitoba took her to court to force her into rehabilitative treatment. The third section of this chapter recounts how Baby H was removed from her mother’s care while the mother was still in hospital, convalescing from an operative delivery, and in no way demonstrating active neglect or abuse. The fourth section follows the story of Somali refugees Fatuma Alyaan and her brother, Abdoul Abdi, who endured unspeakable violence as children in foster care in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The fifth section focuses on the impact of poisoned water on reproductive health in Canada, describing just some of the critical activist efforts of water protectors for community survival.
Contributors
Martha Paynter
Martha Paynter is a registered nurse providing abortion and postpartum care in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The founder and chair of Wellness Within: An Organization for Health and Justice, and a doctoral candidate at the Dalhousie University School of Nursing, Martha has 20 years of experience working to advance gender health equity. Her practice, teaching and research focus on the intersection of reproductive health and the justice system. A frequent contributor to Briarpatch, CBC, the Coast, the Conversation, the Halifax Examiner, and Saltwire, Martha writes about publicly-funded health care, prison abolition, and gender equity.
