VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – About a dozen women rallied in front of Waterfront SkyTrain Station to bring attention to issue of reproductive rights.

It was a short demonstration, lasting about 15 minutes. Women dressed in purple walked from the station to West Cordova Street. They held signs reading “Reproductive Rights” and “Education,” as well as northern BC communities like “Kitimat” and “Cranbrook.”

Cathy Walker, a pioneer in the women’s rights movement, was part of the first abortion caravan in the 1970s. She’s upset the federal government defeated a bill which she says harms reproductive rights.

“Who would’ve thought 42 years later we would be fighting the same fight,” Walker says. “It’s amazing to me the federal Tory government wants to move backwards and get rid of the rights that we fought for.”

She says another problem is that a lot of women in northern communities — many who are Aboriginal — don’t have a safe place to get an abortion.

“There are so many communities in BC — more than 30 — where women don’t have access to abortions in their own community, and they must go for hours and hours, driving to different communities,” Walker adds.

Irene Lanzinger with the BC Federation of Labour says she’s fighting for all women. “Reproductive rights, the right to have children if we choose to, and the right to not have children if we choose to.”

October 20th is a Pan-Canadian Day of Action organized by the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada and other advocacy groups across the country. This rally is one of many happening in cities across Canada.