Short Answer:

Abortion and Reproductive Justice

Scenario: When Felicity is 15 weeks pregnant, she loses her job. Because of this and other financial constraints on the horizon, she is thinking of terminating the pregnancy. Also due to financial reasons, Felicity will have to decide soon if she is going to live with family in Fredericton, New Brunswick (Canada), Toronto, Ontario (Canada), or Jackson, Mississippi (United States of America).

Question to answer: What factors (legal or otherwise) will likely impact Felicity's decisions? To identify and explain these factors, try to use what you have learned in Unit 4 about the legal status of abortion, what that looks like in practice, the major cases we have studied, and/or what the overall framework of reproductive justice entails.

Long Answer:

Consent and Sexual Assault

Scenario: When attending a costume party at a local bar, the accused (Kevin) groped the complainant multiple times. Despite the fact that the complainant said a clear "No" to every sexual advance Kevin made, he eventually rubbed his erect penis against her on the dance floor. The complainant reported the sexual assault to police that night, with others on record having witnessed the exchange.

In defence of his actions, Kevin asserted the following points:

• The complainant was wearing a sexually revealing costume and she did not leave at any point, meaning that there was "implied consent" for him to proceed.
• Kevin's girlfriend was attending the same costume party and wearing the same costume as the complainant. The costumes had a mask portion which mostly obscured the wearer's identity, so he believed the complainant was his girlfriend.
• Kevin's girlfriend had told him earlier that night that she might "play hard to get," but wanted him to pursue her. Kevin stated that she had therefore consented "in advance" to anything he would do.

Question to answer: Based on what you have learned in this class, do you think Kevin's three defences should lead to him being acquitted or convicted? Why?

Although your answer still needs to pick either "acquittal" or "conviction," it can note how some defences support this more than others (e.g., "Although one of these defences could support an acquittal, Kevin's defences stillmostlysupport a conviction because of..." or "Kevin's defencesmostly support an acquittal, with the exception of..."). To evaluate Kevin's defences, be sure to use what you have learned inUnit 3 about Canadian law's approach to consent, its definition of sexual assault, possible defences, and/or the relationship of these factors to major cases we have studied.