Year: 2017
Location: Lethbridge
Profile: Jacqueline Preyde joined the women’s rights movement in the 1980s after accessing an abortion as a young adult. This experience highlighted the challenges of navigating the abortion system. She joined the Ontario Coalition for Abortion Clinics. She describes the collective nature of the organization, and their work in coalition with the labour movement. Preyde highlights such events as the International Women’s Day Marches that brought activists into the streets. After moving to Calgary, she participated in the Calgary Status of Women Action Committee and later the Alberta Status of Women Action Committee (now Womanspace) in Lethbridge. One of their major projects was Women in Poverty, where she visited small communities to understand issues faced by women living in poverty, including housing, daycare access, and domestic violence. In the 1990s, Preyde co-founded a pro-choice organization in Lethbridge and worked at Lethbridge AIDS Connection. She discusses the social determinants influencing abortion access and care for those with HIV/AIDS. Preyde later taught in the University of Lethbridge Women’s Studies Department, focusing on health science and activism. She earned a PhD in social justice from the University of Windsor. Preyde briefly discusses her experience running for the provincial NDP in the 1993 election.
Keywords: Abortion access; Alberta Status of Women Action Committee; HIV/AIDS; New Democratic Party; Status of Women Action Committee; Womanspace; Women in Poverty; Women’s Rights Movement; Women’s Studies Department.
Transcript: Download PDF
See also: Women and Work in Alberta