Strong reaction in Ottawa to leaked Roe v. Wade draft

The Morgentaler Clinic in Ottawa is seen in this Google Street View image.

It's a decision in the United States many in Canada are watching closely.

A leaked draft of a U.S. Supreme Court opinion obtained by Politico suggests the justices are set to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that guarantees the right to abortion across the U.S.

"Very upsetting. It's just shocking," said Morrisburg mom Christine Martin, who had an abortion a few years ago.

"I was in a bad situation and it really brought me back to that place where it was like, what would've happened if I wouldn't have been able to do that? Where would my life be at?"

Martin said she's grateful she had a choice.

"I used to be anti-abortion. As a teenager, it was always like, 'If I get pregnant, I'm going to have a baby,'" she said. "And then it came to me and I had to make that choice, and I did, and I'm happy I did, and I'm happy I had that choice. It's frightening and terrifying to think about women in the states, that they won't have that choice."

Supreme Court Justices can still change their votes and a ruling is only final when it is published by the court, which is expected this summer.

If the decision were overturned, each individual state would be able to decide whether to ban abortion. About half of them have already signalled they would.

Anti-abortion activists rejoiced.

"We're going to start to see, I predict, a culture change in Canada to become slightly more pro-life and we'll see that continue for years if that does happen in the United States," said Jack Fonseca with the Campaign Life Coalition.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Canada Bruce Heyman says the implications could be far-reaching.

"This is just the beginning because the basis in which they're looking at this could be then applied to gay marriage, it could be applied to contraception, it could be applied to inter-racial marriage, it could be applied to gun votes, gun rights, it could be applied to so many different things. As a result of that, voting, voting, voting is going make a big difference here," Heyman said.