Canada – N.B. medical groups call for greater abortion access following Clinic 554 closure

By Silas Brown Global News
February 5, 2024

Some medical groups are calling on the provincial government to expand access to surgical abortions following the closure of Clinic 554.

Dr. Amanda Black, the president of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada, says that it’s unacceptable to leave large swaths of the province without local access to surgical abortion procedures. “It shouldn’t depend on what part of the country you live in, all individuals in Canada should have access to certain levels of reproductive care,” she said.

Continued: https://globalnews.ca/news/10273741/clinic-554-closure-medical-groups/

05.02.2024

News

Blaine Higgs

Canadian Civil Liberties Association

New Brunswick Medical Society

Shannon Hardy

Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada

Canada

Health

Human Rights

Things have to change: New Brunswick can no longer ignore its responsibility with regards to abortion access

by Regroupement féministe du Nouveau-Brunswick.
February 2, 2024

Regroupement féministe du Nouveau-Brunswick (RFNB) is devastated to learn of the definitive closure of Fredericton’s Clinic 554. Yesterday, outside the New Brunswick Legislature, Dr. Adrian Edgar announced that, due to the doubling of the clinic’s rent and the lack of public funding, his team would no longer be able to provide abortion services, effective immediately. In addition to an entire region being denied access to essential health care, this event highlights the current government’s misogynistic and classist legislation.

We call on all New Brunswick politicians to take responsibility for guaranteeing universal, free, safe and bilingual access to abortion care for all pregnant people! Things have to change.

Continued: https://nbmediacoop.org/2024/02/02/things-have-to-change-new-brunswick-can-no-longer-ignore-its-responsibility-with-regards-to-abortion-access-commentary/

Clinic 554 to close, bringing clinic-based abortions to end in Fredericton area

Dr. Adrian Edgar says pro-bono work, increased rent costs are forcing immediate closure of clinic

Aidan Cox · CBC News
Jan 31, 2024

A Fredericton clinic that provides surgical abortions will be closing its doors after Wednesday, with its medical director blaming an unwillingness by the provincial government to allow the procedure to be covered by Medicare.

Dr. Adrian Edgar, the clinic's medical director, announced in 2019 he was being forced to close Clinic 554 over financial pressures incurred from providing pro-bono abortion procedures to women who can't afford to pay for them out of pocket.

On Wednesday, Edgar said the clinic, which has been operating one day a week, will now close completely because of the continuing financial strain from providing the procedure free of charge, and a rent increase at Brunswick Street building that houses the clinic.

Continued: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/clinic-554-fredericton-abortion-1.7100433

Inside the Battle for Better Abortion Access In New Brunswick

Sarah Ratchford, Reader's Digest Canada
Nov 10, 2021

Angie Deveau had planned to spend Boxing Day of 2013 lounging in front of the Christmas tree with her family. Instead, she had morning sickness and found herself rushing back and forth to the bathroom. That evening, after she read her three-year-old son his favourite bedtime story, cuddled him, and kissed his forehead goodnight, Deveau took a pregnancy test. She’d already guessed what it would say: positive.

At the time she was 34 and lived in a house in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Though she shared custody with her son’s father, she was the boy’s primary caregiver and had only her part-time income as a researcher to sustain them both. She made $25 per hour, working 15 hours per week, and had all the bills that everyone does: housing, groceries, clothing, utilities, and on it went.

Continued; https://www.msn.com/en-ca/health/wellness/inside-the-battle-for-better-abortion-access-in-new-brunswick/ar-AAQyxex

Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland visits Clinic 554 in Fredericton

By Nathalie Sturgeon Global News
Posted July 23, 2021

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland visited Clinic 554 in Fredericton as part of a two-stop tour of the province with MP Jenica Atwin.

Freeland met with clinic staff and discussed the services they provide. They also talked about the struggles the clinic has faced with some of its critical services.

Continued: https://globalnews.ca/news/8056101/deputy-pm-visits-fredericton-clinic-554/

Finally, New Brunswick is being sued for unlawful restrictions on abortion access

by Martha Paynter
Jan 18, 2021

On January 7, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association filed a lawsuit against the Higgs government in New Brunswick, challenging the constitutionality of the province’s restrictions to publicly-insured abortion services. Section 2.a.1 of Regulation 84-20 of the N.B. Medical Services Payment Act, enacted in 1984, states that abortion is “deemed not to be entitled services” for provincial payment unless it is provided in an approved hospital facility. Other services similarly banned from public payment include cosmetic surgery and breast augmentation. The regulation effectively excludes abortion care provided by Clinic 554, the former Morgentaler Clinic in Fredericton, from public coverage. The federal government has reprimanded New Brunswick for being the only province in the country that refuses to fund clinic-based abortion, a move that violates the Canada Health Act.

As a registered nurse working in abortion care and research, I recognize there are many potential advantages to going to a clinic for abortion care, such as a welcoming environment; more specialized staff; and reduced travel time, since many clinics also provide related services like ultrasounds and bloodwork collection. But in New Brunswick there are two additional, critical benefits.

Continued: https://briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view/finally-new-brunswick-is-being-sued-for-unlawful-restrictions-on-abortion-access

Canada – New Brunswick being sued over abortion access

Lawsuit filed by civil liberties group seeks to force government to fund abortion services in private clinics

Jacques Poitras · CBC News
Posted: Jan 07, 2021

A national civil liberties group has officially launched a lawsuit aimed at forcing the New Brunswick government to fund abortion services in private clinics.

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association filed the constitutional challenge in Court of Queen's Bench in Fredericton. "The province is violating women's, girls' and trans people's fundamental right to make their own choices, their right to privacy, to safety and, of course, to equality," Noa Mendelsohn Aviv, the CCLA's director of equality programs, told reporters.

Continued: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/abortion-new-brunswick-lawsuit-civil-liberties-association-medicare-1.5864555

Save Clinic 554 and provide abortion access for all

Elisa Do
December 7, 2020

In March 2020, roughly $140,000 was deducted from New Brunswick’s annual health transfer payments by the Canadian federal government. Yet in April, the temporary reimbursement of the same amount was provided to the province due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The initial decision to deduct money was a result of the province not subsidizing out-of-hospital abortions. The province has been criticized for not providing adequate abortion access.

Continued: https://www.thesil.ca/save-clinic-554-and-provide-abortion-access-for-all

07.12.2020

MSU Student Health Education Centre

Canada – Civil liberties group prepared to sue New Brunswick over access to abortion

Province is asked to repeal law that prevents funding outside hospitals

Mia Urquhart · CBC News
Posted: Oct 16, 2020

Citizens shouldn't have to sue their own government to ensure the right to health-care services, says the doctor who runs Fredericton's abortion clinic.

"In a perfect world, you don't have to sue your government to either respect the Canada Health Act or simply provide equal access to health care," said Dr. Adrian Edgar.

Continued: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/ccla-threatens-lawsuit-over-abortion-1.5763355

Canada – It’s hard enough to get an abortion in New Brunswick—closing Clinic 554 won’t help

by Tegwyn Hughes
Posted on August 17, 2020

This article is the first in a two-part series about Clinic 554 and health care in New Brunswick.

In the Greater Toronto Area, there are nine locations where someone can access abortion services. In the entire province of New Brunswick, there are only four. Come September, that number could shrink to three, worsening the already poor access to abortion care in the province.

Clinic 554, New Brunswick’s only independent clinic that offers abortions—as well as family medicine, trans-inclusive care, and contraception counselling—is set to close permanently at the end of September. Advocates for the Fredericton, N.B. clinic, as well as former patients, are urging the provincial government to save it, but the Progressive Conservative leadership hasn’t budged.

Continued: https://the-pigeon.ca/2020/08/17/clinic-554-1/