Obstructed Gynecology: Inaccess to Reproductive Health Care for Incarcerated Women as a Violation of Section 7 of the Charter

Abstract

Substandard prison health care in Canada has long been the subject of research, debate, and policy analysis. For nearly forty years, Senator Kim Pate and her associates have uncovered myriad human rights abuses occurring inside Canadian prisons and have urged governments to take action. The extent to which this substandard health care specifically impacts the reproductive freedom of incarcerated women has yet to be the subject of meaningful academic consideration. It has been argued by many that the conditions of Canadian prisons engage the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This paper, in its limited scope, conceives of reproductive freedom as encapsulated by the section 7 Charter right to life, liberty, and security of the person. It is a novel analysis of how each of these three constitutional rights might be engaged by the current state of reproductive health care in prison.