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Those sections are No. 7, which guarantees the right to “life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice” and No. 15, which bans discrimination based on age and as other traits.

In the covering email, Mitch McAdam, the head of the ministry’s constitutional law branch, said while the memo was prepared quickly and was not comprehensive, he agreed with Roy’s conclusion that age restrictions would be deemed unconstitutional.

“I have little doubt that the Supreme Court would hold that legislation requiring minor girls to get their parents’ consent before undergoing an abortion would violate the girl’s rights under Section 7,” McAdam wrote in the email.

The courts, McAdam wrote, have in recent years “taken a particularly expansive view” of the section, using it to strike down laws related to prostitution and assisted suicide. He said the Section No. 7 issue would likely prove “insurmountable.”

Sask. Party leadership candidate Ken Cheveldayoff told Right Now that he thinks parental consent should be required for any “major procedure” performed on a child under the age of 18. He subsequently told The Canadian Press that only women whose lives are endangered, and not sexual assault victims, should be allowed to have an abortion.

While he believes life begins at conception, victims of sexual assault have the right to choose an abortion, the Saskatoon Willowgrove MLA said in a subsequent statement. Cheveldayoff said he would not introduce anti-abortion legislation if elected to lead the party.