Canada – The 30-year struggle for abortion access in P.E.I. shows how hard this fight can be

Let us not take for granted our right to access abortion services

Rebecca Viau · for CBC Opinion
Posted: May 17, 2022

I have been on the front line of P.E.I.'s fight for abortion access. I saw firsthand the harm done when access to abortion is limited or restricted.

In 2014, I had stepped forward in the movement and became a beacon of sorts, a public face for people to connect to. Once someone connected with me seeking to access abortion services, I would mobilize the community-organized support network that could help them find the treatment they needed in a timely manner. Because abortion services weren't available on P.E.I. until 2017, anyone seeking an abortion had to travel off-Island for treatment.

Continued: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-abortion-becka-viau-1.6454849


How PEI Became One Of The Most Accessible Places For Women’s Health Care In Canada

How PEI Became One Of The Most Accessible Places For Women’s Health Care In Canada
Within 10 months, PEI went from having no abortion services on the island to offering self-referral. What can the province teach the rest of the country?

by Emily Baron Cadloff
Updated Nov 20, 2019

When Courtney Cudmore learned she was pregnant in 2015, she knew immediately what she would do. At 31 years old, the Charlottetown restaurant worker was already a mother of two, and her then-fiancée had taken a job out of province. She was overwhelmed and scared, and she wanted desperately not to be pregnant. Cudmore saw a doctor at a walk-in clinic, who she says told her he had a religious objection to abortion. After she pleaded with him, he reluctantly gave her a prescription for a medical abortion. She tried several pharmacies before finding one that would fill it.

“There was no way I could bring another child into the equation. What was I going to do? How was I going to feed it? Clothe it? Find room for it?” she wrote at the time on Facebook.

Continued: https://www.chatelaine.com/health/pei-abortion-access/