Healthcare, reproductive rights divide U.S., Canada in poll

On one side of the border, a woman can see a doctor for free and is guaranteed paid maternity leave. On the other, most women do not qualify for free healthcare and one in five under 65 does not have medical insurance.

These differences and others make Canada the best country among the world's wealthiest nations to be a woman and keep the United States out of the top five, according to a poll of experts released on Wednesday by TrustLaw, a legal news service run by Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The United States ranked sixth among the 19 countries in the Group of 20 economies, excluding the European Union economic grouping, in the global survey of 370 recognized gender specialists.

Germany, Britain, Australia and France followed Canada in that order, while India, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia polled the worst.

Despite similarities between Canada and the United States in education and economic opportunity, the countries are very different in the area of gender equality, the experts said. Canada's constitution promotes and safeguards women's rights while a lack of consensus over reproductive rights in particular erodes them in the United States, experts said.

"Canada leads the pack with its promotion of women's access and opportunities across various sectors of society, including education, economic participation and healthcare," said Sarah Degnan Kambou, president of the International Center for Research on Women in Washington, which took part in the survey.

The poll showed how the lack of universal health care and the struggle over abortion rights in the United States - important issues ahead of the November presidential election - were key to perceptions of women's freedoms in the country, according to the experts polled.

Respondents came from 63 countries on five continents and included aid professionals, academics, health workers, policymakers, journalists and development specialists with experience in gender issues. Representatives of faith-based organizations were also surveyed.

While a pregnant woman in Canada is guaranteed 15 weeks paid maternity leave, she receives no federally guaranteed time off with pay in the United States. If the expectant mother is one of the 16 percent of American women under 65 with no health insurance - according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - she may have to forgo adequate prenatal and postnatal care because she can't afford it.

Canada also ranks better than the United States on maternal mortality, reporting 12 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2008, half the number recorded in the United States, according to the United Nations.

POLITICS, TREATIES AND RIGHTS

While women's political representation in Canada lags behind some G20 countries, it fares better than in the United States. Nearly a quarter of seats in Canada's lower house of parliament are held by women, compared to 17 percent in the United States, according to data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union.