Backgrounder - Abortion Access Issues
Even though all provinces and territories have deemed abortion to be
a "medically required" service* under the Canada
Health Act, abortion services still do not meet any of the five
principles of the Act:
- public administration
- comprehensiveness
- universality
- portability
- accessibility
Because some provinces have failed to provide accessible or funded
abortion services as per the Canada Health Act, access to
abortion is still difficult for many women, especially those in rural,
remote, or conservative areas; minority and immigrant women; low-income
women; teenagers; and other disadvantaged women.
Lack of access to abortion violates women's constitutional rights,
but governments often lack the political will to make abortion
accessible to women. Even the medical profession has succumbed to
anti-abortion pressure by not performing abortions or training
providers.
- Two provinces (New Brunswick and Quebec) do not fully fund
aobrtions at all clinics. Every year, about 9,000 women must pay
out-of-pocket for their abortions, a violation of the Canada Health Act. The average cost
of a first-trimester abortion is $500.
- Fewer than one in five Canadian hospitals provide abortion
services, even though it is a common and simple medical procedure.
Hospitals that do provide abortions may enforce restrictive policies
such as 12-week gestational limits or requiring a doctor’s referral.
Hospitals often have long waiting lists.
- There is a shortage of doctors able and willing to perform
abortions, partly because medical school training in abortion is
inadequate or unavailable, and partly out of stigma and fear. Canadian
medical schools spend an average of less than one hour discussing
abortion during the four-year curriculum. First-trimester
surgical abortion techniques are discussed in only half of Canada's
medical schools.
To improve access to abortion across Canada, ARCC plans to
work towards:
- obtaining full Medicare funding for abortion clinics (in
provinces that are still violating the Canada Health Act)
- removing abortion from the list of excluded services for
purposes of reciprocal billing between provinces (to fulfill the
portability principle of the Canada Health Act)
- improving hospital access to abortion across Canada
- increasing the number of abortion providers and expanding
training opportunities for abortion
*To understand why abortion is a medically-required service and
must be fully funded, see our Position Paper Abortion Is a "Medically Required" Service and Cannot
be Delisted.
