Federal health minister says N.B. abortion access can be 'difficult,' but is quiet on what Ottawa will do next
CBC
Canada's health minister says he is still concerned about a lack of equitable access to abortion services throughout New Brunswick, but he isn't committing to any new steps to force the provincial government to expand the service.
Jean-Yves Duclos told CBC News he's awaiting a study Ottawa commissioned in 2021 on barriers to access in the province.
"We know that there are cases and places where that right is more difficult to exercise and that's why we made that commitment in the campaign," he said in an interview.
"That's why we are looking at all possible ways to make sure that women in particular have access to these reproductive rights."
The province offers abortions up to 13 weeks of pregnancy in three hospitals, two in Moncton and one in Bathurst, funded by Medicare.
It refuses to fund the procedure at Fredericton's Clinic 554, a private clinic. The province says offering it at three hospitals in two cities is enough to meet demand.
Clinic manager Valerya Edelman said Ottawa has been "supportive" by commissioning the study and funding abortion-rights groups, but she's not sure if there's anything else Duclos can do.
"Health care delivery is a provincial matter … it's tricky for the federal government to get too involved in the delivery of health care.
While the building housing Clinic 554 has been sold to a new owner, the clinic is continuing to rent space and provide abortions one day each week for a $700 fee, with financial help available for some patients.
The service is vital, especially in winter when travel to Moncton or Bathurst can be a problem due to weather, Edelman said.
The Progressive Conservative government of Blaine Higgs passed legislation in December allowing for some surgeries to be performed in private clinics outside hospitals and billed to Medicare.
A private clinic in Bathurst is now doing publicly funded cataract surgeries, helping to cut down on surgical wait times in hospitals.
In 2020, Higgs said funding abortions in a private clinic would be "a slippery slope. … Does that mean that we should continue to offer more and more services in private clinics and less and less services in public institutions?"
Duclos wouldn't comment on whether the new legislation contradicts the province's refusal to fund abortions at Clinic 554.
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