After Ruling, Americans Flood Google With a New Question

Crossing state borders has become a big issue after the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade ruling, but Americans aren't just thinking about driving from Missouri to Illinois or Arizona to California. Google searches for "how to move to Canada from US" jumped 850% in the hour after the court announced its abortion decision Friday, Axios reports. And "how to become a Canadian citizen" queries rose 550% in that hour, per Simon Rogers' Google Trends newsletter. Anyone thinking about becoming Canadian over the issue could find encouragement in the government's response to the US changes.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pronounced the ruling "horrific" and warned that it could eventually lead to weakened protections for same-sex couples, per the Washington Post. "Women for generations have fought for more rights in the United States, (only) to see this setback, to worry as well about how this can be expanded to more rights be taken away in the United States," Trudeau said Saturday. When asked, he didn't quite say his government will help US women arriving for abortions, but he said, "Everyday Americans who find themselves in Canada access our health care system in Canada, and that's certainly something that will continue."

Canadian officials began pointing that out after Politico last month published a leaked draft of the majority opinion in the abortion case. Abortion is legal at every stage of pregnancy in Canada. "If an American wanted a medical procedure, they could get one, they would just have to pay for it out of pocket," a Cabinet member said. "There's no reason why we would turn anyone away to receive that procedure here." At the same time, per Politico, Canadians warn Americans that it might not be a simple process. "Wait lists are through the roof," the head of Planned Parenthood Toronto said in May. "The places that do provide abortion or reproductive care in this country are overwhelmed." (More Roe v. Wade stories.)