Marilyn Wilson, director of the Canadian Abortion Rights Action League (CARAL), said in the organization’s newsletter that the Canadian government “is denying the right to abortion services. This happens every day by publicly funded hospitals refusing to provide abortions that are medically prescribed under Medicare… It’s happening when governments allow provinces to refuse abortion services to all or arbitrarily elect to perform only emergency abortions.” Wilson also noted that “four provinces still refuse to cover the cost of a clinic abortion.”

Canada’s antiabortion law was struck down on Jan. 28, 1988, when the Supreme Court ruled that the law was unconstitutional and violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms because it infringed on a woman’s right to life, liberty, and the security of her person.

CARAL’s newsletter points out that 16 years later, “we should be celebrating the freedom women have enjoyed over the last decade and a half to choose their own destiny. However,” it adds, “we have lost a lot of ground when it comes to abortion.”

The organization did a study of abortion access in Canada, and found that “the shrinking pool of hospitals that are willing or able to provide abortions is a great obstacle for women, especially in rural or northern communities. This causes longer waits in the hospitals that do provide services. The longer the delay the higher the potential is for complications from abortion. It also causes added expenses and anxiety when a woman has to travel long distances to have the procedure done outside her community.” Fewer than one in five hospitals in Canada provide abortions today.

CARAL reported that the Canadian government does not collect and publish thorough statistics on abortion services, including a breakdown by hospital. The group stated in its newsletter that “bodies such as the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists will not disclose the names and locations of abortion providers…because of the threat of violence from the anti-choice movement. This makes it very difficult for a woman to find a doctor when the need arises.”

Planned Parenthood has produced a “tool kit” of promotional resources, t-shirts, and buttons. A Day of Action for Choice in Canada events listing will soon be available at www.ppfc.ca.

A rally is planned in Toronto on Saturday, April 24, at 6:30 p.m., to send off a bus to the Washington demonstration. For more information call 416-969-8463.

In Vancouver, the Day of Action for Choice march begins at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, April 25. Contact Lesia Hnatiw (lhnatiw@canada.com) for more information.

Events are also planned in Saskatchewan, Alberta, New Brunswick, and other parts of British Columbia. For more information, contact Planned Parenthood at (613) 241-4474 x 227.  
 
 
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