Christal Malone of London and Jennifer Surerus of St. Thomas help make access to safe abortion as seamless and easy as possible for people across the country. Unlike doctors or nurses, their roles are not limited to medical care. Instead, they provide physical and emotional support that ranges from picking someone up from the airport to holding a thermometer to their mouth and even giving someone a shoulder to cry on. “We’re trying to support people to make the choices they need, and we’re not trying to convince people to do something,” Surerus said. “Often people don’t have [support] from family and friends.”
Abortion is legal, but access is a problem
Unlike the United States, where the abortion legal landscape is undergoing a sea change following a landmark Supreme Court decision that struck down a constitutional right to abortion for the first time in 50 years, Canada has no laws restricting access to abortion. procedure. Malone, left, and Surerus attend an anti-abortion protest outside the London Health Sciences Center in southwestern Ontario. They are shown with Surerus’ sister, Tiffany, middle. (Provided by Christal Malone) In this country, abortion is legal, regardless of the reason. The procedure is also publicly paid for through a combination of federal and provincial health systems, but just because it’s not illegal in Canada doesn’t mean Canadians should take it for granted, Surerus said. “I think we’re a little too complacent here. Transportation, childcare, being able to take time off work — all of that plays into the access equation.” It’s a problem across the country, but perhaps most acutely felt in Atlantic Canada, where abortion restrictions are the highest and the federal government has withheld health care funding in provinces that did not provide adequate access. In Ontario, 21,428 abortions were performed in 2020, according to the Canadian Abortion Rights Coalition. More than 15,000 of these took place in private clinics, while just over 5,000 were in the province’s hospitals.
Urban and rural division
Despite the number of procedures, there are disparities between urban and rural areas in Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, where abortion services are provided only in urban areas, despite the fact that 35 to 40 percent of the population lives in rural areas. or remote communities. The charity says more than half of callers need help with flights, accommodation and other travel costs, citing where they live as the biggest barrier to accessing safe care. “It’s very tragic,” Malone said. “It’s very difficult to access an abortion if you live in a rural area, and it’s very time-consuming and expensive to access certain types of abortion.” Even in Malone’s hometown of London, a city of more than 400,000, there is only one clinic. It serves a huge catchment area in southwestern Ontario, as well as people as far away as Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick — provinces where access to abortion is the most limited. When a patient arrives at the London clinic, the person must attend at least three appointments before healthcare workers agree to perform the procedure. “It can be really hard to get time off work or get transport, and a lot of it starts early in the morning. So if the person is not local, they have to come the day before to access the service.” Malone said. Pro-choice charities like Action Canada are stepping in to help fill the financial gap and help connect abortion seekers with doulas like Surerus and Malone. In Ontario, there are almost twice as many crisis pregnancy centres. in 77, compared to 38 hospitals and clinics that provide access to abortions, according to Action Canada. “The counter-selection is strong here, and there’s a political component to it,” Surerus said.
