Pro-choice advocates remaining vigilant
While P.E.I. now offers a range of reproductive services, including abortion, there is still a responsibility to ensure no barriers cause women to fall through the cracks, say some of the province’s long-time prochoice advocates.
Many of these people were part of the large crowd at the Rodd Charlottetown Hotel Sunday for the launch of journalist Kate McKenna’s “No Choice: The 30-Year Fight for Abortion on Prince Edward Island,” a new book which details the efforts to lift P.E.I.’s abortion ban and the individuals who were involved.
Colleen MacQuarrie, an associate professor at UPEI and an active feminist featured in the book, praised the services offered at the Women’s Wellness Centre in the Prince County Hospital.
MacQuarrie said one of the largest issues for advocates now is to ensure the province pays attention to the whole issue of reproductive justice and barriers, especially for marginalized women.
“I think we’re in a good space now where we’re trying to fine tune and make sure no one is falling through the cracks,” said MacQuarrie, noting that poverty and travel are just two of those factors.
“The most marginalized women in P.E.I. would be the working poor, women who are on social supports or migrant workers, so it’s how do you make sure those women are getting the same level of care.”
MacQuarrie said there is also enough demand for the centre’s services that it warrants an addon to the hospital.
She said the centre currently operates in a shared space, which is inadequate and contributes to wait times.
“There are still kinks to work out of the system, and a big kink is making sure the space is big enough,” said MacQuarrie. “It’s the little things that make a big difference.”
In March 2016, after nearly three decades of lobbying from pro-choice advocates, Premier Wade MacLauchlan said he wouldn’t fight a recently filed lawsuit against the province and announced a new women’s reproductive health centre that would offer a number of services, including abortions.
McKenna, who was a founding member of the P.E.I. Reproductive Rights Organization (PRRO) in 2011, said she felt many advocates thought MacLauchlan handled the issue gracefully.
“Not only did Wade MacLauchlan decide not to fight it, put it through the court system and cost Islanders money trying to fight an unwinnable case …, he also added other services for women,” said McKenna, who noted her book is somewhat of a celebration of the many people who fought for those services.
“It means a lot to be the person who wrote this history.”
Ann Wheatley, a long-time advocate who is featured prominently in the book, also praised the services offered at the centre.
“It’s made an incredible difference in the lives of Island women,” said Wheatley, who also credited the second wave of advocates, such as McKenna and other members of PRRO, as being necessary in achieving the goal.
“It’s just an incredible testament to the persistence, passion and commitment of women and their belief in equality and reproductive justice. You can see how it crossed generations and that’s a pretty powerful thing.”