Prior to colonization, land-based and traditional medicines were commonly used to prevent or end pregnancies. This reproductive knowledge was discounted and made illegal by early settlers, forcing those who held this knowledge to bring it ‘underground’ for safety.
Knowledge around practicing reproductive freedoms still exists within Indigenous communities today. Check out this infographic by researchers Dr. Renée Monchalin and Willow Paul of the University of Victoria for a snapshot of abortion access and Indigenous peoples in Canada.
