Episode 4: Abortion Rights with Precarious Immigration Status

“For many people, their right to be in Canada is directly connected to maintaining their employment or student status. If this is interrupted for example, via pregnancy, they risk not only losing their job, but also their home in Canada, their place and community in Canada” -Dr. Lindsay Larios

In this episode, we are joined by  Dr. Lindsay Larios to discuss reproductive care in Canada when you have a precarious immigration status. Dr. Larios addresses our questions related to how abortion and reproductive care rights work in a healthcare system that often discriminates against marginalized groups.

Links to resources mentioned in this episode:

• Precarious reproductive citizenship: gaps in employment protections for pregnant precarious status migrants in Canada
• Migrant justice as reproductive justice: birthright citizenship and the politics of immigration detention for pregnant women in Canada
• Pregnant and Precarious: Canadian Immigration through the Lens of Reproductive Justice
• Reflections on Canadian abortion care in a post-Roe world
• Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Adolescents’ Sexual and Reproductive Health in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
• How the Texas Heartbeat Bill Will Affect Low-Income Women of Color Across the US: A Commentary
• Listening to Women: Understanding and Challenging Systems of Power to Achieve Reproductive Justice in South Carolina
• Quality of Life Improves with Access to Choose: Easing Abortion Restrictions Benefits Both Mother and Child, Especially for Families of Color

Guest Biography

Dr. Lindsay Larios is an assistant professor at the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Social Work. She holds a PhD from the Department of Political Science at Concordia University and a Master of Social Work from McGill University. She is also a research affiliate with the Centre for Canadian Policy Alternatives and the Centre for Human Rights Research..

Her research focuses on questions related to citizenship, justice, and human rights by applying a reproductive justice framework to the Canadian immigration context. Dr. Larios is committed to pursuing a community-engaged research program that illuminates the gendered and racialized dimensions of our political knowledge.