Access to abortion in all regions of Quebec must be the priority of the Minister responsible for the Status of Women, Martine Biron, more than the drafting of a law that would protect this right, argues the Member for Mercier, Ruba Ghazal, and community organizations.
Ms. Ghazal, also spokesperson for Québec solidaire for the status of women, first addressed this issue during a press briefing at the National Assembly at the beginning of June.
“The legal aspect in Quebec is not threatened, at least not at the moment. But the aspect (of) accessibility, that is very difficult, ”she says in an interview.
The MNA asks Minister Biron to put in place a plan to ensure access to abortion throughout Quebec, and to include access to free contraception.
“For example, in Témiscamingue, there are women who have to drive long hours to get to Rouyn-Noranda or Val-d’Or to terminate their pregnancy,” says Ruba Ghazal. It is this type of example that is reported to us that means that the remoteness of abortion services reduces access to women, especially when you know you want to terminate a pregnancy, there is the time aspect that is important. »
An affirmation to which adheres the general coordinator of the Federation of Quebec for the planning of births (FQPN), Jess Legault.
“We don’t want a law, we really want to increase access in the regions,” she says, pointing out that a quarter of abortion service points are located in Montreal.
Ms. Legault also deplores the fact that, in several regions of Quebec, it is necessary to travel to a centralized region in order to have access to an abortion after a certain number of weeks of pregnancy.
“If the person realizes too late, say at 10 weeks (of pregnancy), and in the region it goes up to 12 weeks, but the waiting times go up to three weeks, we agree that made there, you will have to leave your region to have access to abortion, ”she illustrates.
Among the regions where access to abortion is difficult are the Gaspésie and the Îles-de-la-Madeleine.
“We realize that this is a major issue, since there are women who have to travel hundreds of kilometers to have access to a surgical abortion, for example,” says Léa Blouin-Rodrigue, health development officer women at the Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine women’s group consultation table.
“In the Gaspé, surgical abortion is only available in Gaspé, it’s up to twelve weeks and six days (of pregnancy), after which you will have to travel outside the region. In the Magdalen Islands, it goes up to 16 weeks, ”explains Ms. Blouin-Rodrigue.
In addition to the limited number of weeks of pregnancy in which women can obtain an abortion in the region, there are also the short opening hours of service points.
In Gaspé, it is possible to make an appointment for an abortion only one day a week, mentions Ms. Blouin-Rodrigue.
Medical abortion: the solution?
According to the DD Diane Francoeur, Executive Director of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada, “Quebec is by far the province where accessibility (to abortion) is the greatest”. However, it recognizes that access problems can arise in remote areas.
“That’s why we’re fierce campaigners for enabling knowledge and access to medical abortion,” she says, saying medical abortion is “extremely safe.” The abortion pill can be prescribed in telemedicine if the person has a regular menstrual cycle, specifies the DD Francoeur.
However, medical abortion can be performed a maximum of 63 days after the date of the last menstrual period, ie at the ninth week of pregnancy.
“When we talk about access to abortion, we really have to prioritize precisely so that women are not taken after the deadlines, and at that point be forced to take a surgical abortion,” says the gynecologist, making reference to deadlines before obtaining an appointment.
“We, the people who are involved in women’s health, are worried about the immense shortage of personnel that is coming, and we must already start working on service corridors as soon as there are break in service”, pleads the DD Francoeur.
However, Jess Legault, of the FQPN, fears that access to abortion by instrument is “threatened” by the arrival of medical abortion.
“We see in our resource directory that some service points now only offer abortion by instrument after (nine) weeks, because that’s the limit of abortion by medication,” says Ms. Legault, saying that t must be ensured that women always have the choice between the two options.
For Léa Blouin-Rodrigue, the solution lies as much in increasing service points as in increasing the time slots where abortion is offered.
“Of course we need to have more service points, because we won’t settle the issue of distance and the size of the territory if we don’t add service points for surgical abortion. . Also, adding time slots would give a lot more freedom and choice for women who want to have access to abortion,” she says.
The Canadian Press asked the office of the Minister responsible for the Status of Women, Martine Biron, to comment on this issue, who replied that she did not want to comment on the subject for the moment.
This dispatch was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta Exchange and The Canadian Press for the news.