NDP plans to expand abortion access ‘closer to home’ outside biggest cities

Health Minister Sarah Hoffman says the NDP government wants to expand abortion services outside of the province’s two largest cities.

Currently, surgical abortions are performed only at the Kensington Clinic and Peter Lougheed Hospital in Calgary and the Woman’s Health Options clinic in Edmonton.

In an interview this week, Hoffman said that’s a barrier to access for women outside of the two cities, especially those in remote communities.

She said there are discussions about expanding services into Alberta Health Services hospitals in Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie and Red Deer, though she wouldn’t say how far along those talks are.

“We want to ensure that where there are physicians who are willing to work in this space and where there are patients who need these services, that we find ways to provide them closer to home,” said Hoffman.

“We’ve communicated very clearly to the leadership at AHS that we believe it’s important for these services to be provided in regional hospitals as well.”

The issue of abortion access is linked to the NDP government’s Bill 9, which would create a 50-metre zone around facilities that provide abortions where protesters are not allowed.

Celia Posyniak, executive director of the Kensington Clinic, said last week the legislation would allow for potentially greater access to abortion services in Alberta by providing better protections for doctors in communities outside of Edmonton and Calgary who are willing to perform the service.

She said it would ensure new abortion providers would not have to seek court orders — as has been done by the Kensington Clinic and Woman’s Health Options — relating to protesters.

Hoffman said broadening access is part of the intent of Bill 9.

“Definitely, this is about saying to people who work in this area, ‘We respect you, we respect the services you are providing and we know that you deserve to be safe. You shouldn’t have to be going to court and tying yourself up. We want you to be able to focus on your patients.’

“There are health practitioners who want to work in this area but because of some of the intimidation and threats they have felt in the past, or their colleagues have felt in the past, were possibly reluctant to do so.”

The Opposition United Conservative Party won’t debate or vote on Bill 9, which party leader Jason Kenney characterizes as unnecessary legislation cynically introduced by the NDP as a wedge issue.

The UCP refused to comment Wednesday on the possibility of expanding abortion services into other Alberta communities, saying it would speak to the issue if and when the government makes a formal announcement.

Kenney is personally opposed to abortion but has pledged that if he becomes premier he will make no changes to abortion access in the province.

The UCP, founded last year by agreement of the Progressive Conservative and Wildrose parties, will hold its inaugural convention this weekend.

Among the 250 policy resolutions that are up for debate is a call for a future UCP government to review what procedures are “medically necessary ” and remove non-compliant procedures from publicly funded health insurance, a proposal widely seen as aimed at delisting abortion.

That resolution is low on the list and may not make it to the floor for discussion, said a UCP source.

According to the most recent statistics from the Canadian Institute for Health Information, there were 12,948 abortions in Alberta hospitals and clinics in 2016. In the four years prior to that, the number held around just over 13,000.

Hoffman said access to abortion has improved in Alberta since the province moved to make the drug Mifegymiso available to women for free in July 2017.

About 1,200 prescriptions have been issued for the drug since that time. Women who use Mifegymiso are required to have an ultrasound first as it can only be used in the first 49 days of pregnancy.

“When women have made the difficult decision to exercise their rights, we respect that, and we want to take away barriers that could impede their ability to feel they’re accessing health care in the right place and right time,” she said.

You shouldn’t have to be going to court and tying yourself up.