How Housing Affects Choice

Feedswap: Hard Truths

Today’s episode is a feed swap with Hard Truths, the podcast from Generation Squeeze, whose founder Dr. Paul Kershaw you might remember from our housing episode. In this conversation, Paul shares surprising new data: home ownership among young Canadians (under 35) has climbed to 44%—the highest level in five decades—with 18% owning mortgage-free. What does this means for the future? Canada is shifting away from a meritocracy toward a kind of landed aristocracy—where access to secure housing and wealth increasingly depends on the family you’re born into.

Feedswap: rePROs Fight Back

There are many reasons why someone may require a third-trimester abortion, including both fetal implications and maternal implications (such as health diagnoses and difficult life circumstances). Dr. Shelley Sella, retired OB-GYN, first woman to openly provide third-trimester abortion care in the U.S., and author of Beyond Limits: Stories of Third-Trimester Abortion Care, sits down to share her expertise, discuss the multitude of reasons why someone seeks a third-trimester abortion, and touch on the personal stories shared in the book. Dr. Sella became involved in the women’s health movement in college, which eventually sent her to medical school to begin her journey studying to be an OB-GYN. Dr. Sella was mentored by Dr. George Tiller, who provided late term abortions and who was assassinated in Kansas in 2009. Beyond Limits follows Dr. Sella during a week at the abortion clinic, sharing stories of patients requiring third-trimester abortions for a myriad of reasons.  Link: https://www.reprosfightback.com/episodes-blog/dr-shelley-sella-on-her-new-book-beyond-limit [https://www.reprosfightback.com/episodes-blog/dr-shelley-sella-on-her-new-book-beyond-limit] Listen to more rePROs Fight Back: https://www.reprosfightback.com/ [https://www.reprosfightback.com/]

Erin’s Story: TFMR

Erin shares her experience having a termination for medical reasons—a rare procedure, making up fewer than 1% of abortions in Canada annually. Often taking place later in pregnancy, these abortions are surrounded by political controversy but are, in reality, life-saving care in heartbreaking circumstances and an essential part of reproductive justice. Plus, it’s served with a side of housing justice.

How Housing Affects Choice

What do abortion and housing have in common? Well, they are both recognized as human rights by the UN and multiple other international organizations and agreements. But you wouldn’t necessarily know it from living in Canada as the ongoing housing crisis locks people into unaffordable living situations. In this episode, we explore the gendered impacts of the housing affordability crisis and how it impacts reproductive decisions, with insights from the Women’s National Housing and Homelessness Network, the National Right to Housing Network, and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

Karen’s Story: No Regrets

For Karen, her abortion was a straightforward and empowering decision. In this episode, she shares how making the right choice for herself at the time set her on the path to where she is today — and why she has no regrets. “It was a relatively, you know, I want to say ‘good’ experience. And I kind of never looked back, to be honest. I never thought twice about it. It was absolutely the right decision for me at that time in my life and brought me to where I am today.” Now working at the intersection of mental and reproductive health, Karen shares how her experience informs her work, including a pilot project between YWCA Hamilton and McMaster University that provides respite beds and wraparound support for pregnant people experiencing homelessness.