If I can’t have it, you can’t either

There has been a great many letters lately denouncing the prochoice group for their actions to provide abortions.

They complain about the lack of specialists, travel costs to Moncton and Halifax. Their feeling is if I can’t have it, then you can’t have it. My need is on a higher moral ground than yours. Except I think they are yelling about the wrong thing. We live on a very small island with a small population. There is no way we can attract or afford a lot of specialists, we have to accept that travel to Moncton or Halifax or even West Prince to Charlottetown is the only way.

What we should be yelling about is that we are left entirely on our own in getting to certain necessary services. If you break an arm, leg etc. you must go to Charlottetown for your casts, to see a specialist. Now for this health service you do not have to go to Halifax or Moncton.

The government has to include travel costs and provide means for patients to access these services. They must provide the service, and access to that service.

Pro-choice doctors offered a plan for safe timely abortions on the Island that were cost effective and did not take away from any other services. If a cost effective plan for a blood specialist could be found for the island and all the necessary supports, would people who need a kidney specialist say, well you can’t have that blood service because we can’t have the kidney service on the Island? Carol Capper, Summerside