Health Insurance, a False Dichotomy and a Negative Right to Abortion in Canada's Maritime Provinces

This thesis examines the jurisdictional movement of abortion regulation resulting from R v Morgentaler and the barriers to abortion which emerged as a result of the transition in the Maritime provinces. Following decriminalization, the Maritime provinces responded by implementing health insurance barriers to clinic abortions, restricting access. While contemporary scholarship has predominantly examined the issue through a health law and positive rights lens, this thesis asserts that these barriers can most successfully be challenged as a negative rights violation of the Charters section 7 guarantee of security of the person. This is because, although the dichotomy between positive and negative rights is at times superficial, Canadian courts have taken more favourably to negative rights challenges, particularly in regard to section 7.