Brison’s sister, Kate Daller, was 19 at the time, she said. After Brisson’s family moved from northern British Columbia to Toronto, Dallaire became pregnant. Having only lived in Toronto for two years, Brisson’s family couldn’t find a doctor willing to perform an abortion in the city, he said. “My mother contacted our old family doctor, who we knew from Vancouver, and begged him to help us and he agreed,” Brisson told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview Wednesday. About three months into her pregnancy, Dahler flew to British Columbia for a surgical abortion. “That poor young woman, terrified, [was] put on a plane for an illegal procedure … with a doctor who was terrified,” Brisson said. “As I was flying home, [she was] bleeding [and] he continued to bleed for several days at home before he was finally taken by ambulance to the hospital.” At that point, Dahler remained in the hospital for a few days and was questioned about whether she had an illegal abortion, Brisson said. The doctor who performed the procedure also told Brison’s family never to contact him again. In the late 1970s, when Brison decided to have an abortion herself, her experience was completely different from that of her sister, who died in 2019. Brison was in her 20s when she became pregnant despite using the Dalkon Shield , an intrauterine contraceptive device. “We were poor … We didn’t have anything to give a kid at that time,” Brisson said. Soon after realizing she was pregnant, Brison saw her general practitioner, who she said supported her decision to have an abortion. Since 1969, abortion has been legal in Canada under limited circumstances. In 1988, the procedure was completely decriminalized. In less than a month, Brison had the procedure done at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. “Everything went very smoothly. There was no hassle, no one was rude to me,” Brisson said. Brison is one of several women who contacted CTVNews.ca to share their experiences with abortion in Canada. But according to Meghan Doherty, the director of global policy and advocacy for Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights, access to abortion is not as simple for all Canadians as it was for Brison, even today, even though the procedure is legal. . “I don’t think it’s a uniform experience across Canada,” Doherty told CTVNews.ca Wednesday in a phone interview. GEOGRAPHICAL BARRIERS IN RURAL AREAS In 2016, a report by the United Nations Human Rights Commissioners highlighted the alarming lack of access to abortion and related services in Canada. Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights has a free and confidential phone and text line that receives an average of 250 to 400 calls each month from those seeking information about abortion and other reproductive health services. One of the main concerns among callers is the lack of abortion providers in their community, particularly among those who live in rural areas, Doherty said. “We see that a lot of smaller hospitals in these areas are struggling with staffing and in terms of the kinds of services they can provide,” Doherty said. “This is also reflected in the availability of abortion care.” For some people, that means traveling to other parts of the country for an abortion, said Jill Doctoroff, executive director of the National Abortion Federation of Canada. This can lead to complicated travel arrangements that may include securing childcare services if the person already has children or taking time off from work, she said. “In rural areas of the country [with] communities that don’t have buses or trains and the closest option for abortion care is in the next town over, which might be an hour away,” she said. “For people who have limited resources … figuring out how to pay for it can be very difficult.” Ariane Lachance had an abortion earlier this year. Luckily, she said, she was able to get the procedure done at a women’s health clinic within walking distance of where she lives in Montreal. Without the financial means to care for a child or support from a partner, the 24-year-old said she burst into tears when she found out she was pregnant. “The only option was to have an abortion,” Lachance told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview Wednesday. After researching clinics online and talking to others who had previously had an abortion, she made an appointment. Within a week, Lachance had the procedure done. “I can’t even imagine the struggle these people have to go through, either traveling out of state or out of the country to get access,” he said. RACIAL BARRIERS TO ACCESS Since the introduction of medical abortion in 2017, which involves taking drugs to induce an abortion, the process has become easier for those in remote communities, Doctoroff said. However, medical abortions can only be prescribed to those who are less than 10 weeks pregnant. Beyond these early stages, surgery is required, and the majority of these services are provided in urban centers, Doherty said. Those who need an abortion later in their pregnancy face additional barriers to accessing services, Doctoroff said. In provinces like Nova Scotia, surgical abortions are not performed after more than 16 weeks of pregnancy, for example. This may require people to travel to other parts of the country for the procedure. According to a study published by Action Canada on Sexual Health and Rights in 2019, no provider offers abortion services to Canadian women more than 23 weeks and six days into their pregnancy. Those who are this far along in their pregnancy and seek an abortion often travel to the United States for the procedure. Another group that often has difficulty accessing abortion services is immigrants, Doherty said. Those without proper documentation may find it difficult to obtain an abortion, as they may not have health insurance to cover the associated costs. Much of the systemic racism that exists in Canadian institutions also affects those who want to access abortion services in Canada, she said. This can lead to discrimination against racial communities, such as those who are black, indigenous or colored, seeking abortion services. The forced sterilization of indigenous women that continues today is an example of the “racist treatment” tribal communities face in hospitals, Doherty said. “Looking at health disparities across the country, we can see that people who are more likely to be discriminated against for a variety of reasons, but including race, are more likely to face barriers to accessing all kinds of health services, including abortion. Doherty said. ABORTION CONTROL AND SHAME Despite its decriminalization in Canada in 1988, the stigma surrounding abortion remains, Doherty said. “We live in a patriarchal society with particular gender norms and anything related to sexuality and gender that goes beyond that very narrow framework is often scrutinized and with that comes stigma,” she said. The more people talk about abortion and work to make sure it’s available to everyone in Canada, the easier it will be to normalize it as a common procedure and break down the stigma, Doherty said. For Jenn Howson, who lives in Calgary, the abortion process in 2018 was relatively uneventful, she said. At the age of 38, Howson became pregnant unexpectedly. She and her husband already had one child together and were in no financial position to have another, she said. “In this case, [abortion] it was a choice … that was available to me, and I had choices to make,” Howson told CTVNews.ca on Wednesday in a phone interview. “If we relate it to things that happen south of the border, they don’t have that option.” After calling to make the appointment, Howson said she had a surgical abortion within a few weeks during her first trimester at a nearby hospital. “I did a quick Google search, found the phone number to call [and] call them,” Howson said, describing the process to make an appointment. “It was quick and easy…that’s how it should be when it comes to anything about our health.” Despite the relatively easy procedure, Howson said she faced mental hurdles related to the stigma surrounding abortion, fearing that others might think she had the procedure. In addition to her 2018 abortion, Howson previously underwent a dilation and curettage in 2011. Howson had the procedure, which is considered an early termination method, after a miscarriage. “Abortions are also done because they are medically necessary,” he said. “We shouldn’t be ashamed to have these kinds of procedures.” By sharing her story, Howson hopes to contribute to a conversation where people realize it’s okay to talk openly about abortion. Part of the solution also lies in health care providers being more vocal about the abortion services they provide, said Dr. Sarah Munro, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of British Columbia. While most people may think they have to go to a clinic for an abortion, medical abortions are particularly accessible through primary care providers, she said. “It can be difficult, because of the internalized stigma, for a client to ask their primary care provider about abortion options,” Munro told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview Wednesday. “In turn, it can be challenging for primary care…
