'Of great importance': Abortion debate raging in Alberta too despite UCP refusals to engage
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Advocates for and against wider access to abortion in Alberta continued to spar over the controversy Thursday despite the premier's unwillingness to have the debate.
Advocates for and against wider access to abortion in Alberta continued to spar over the controversy Thursday despite the premier's unwillingness to have the debate.
A landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling on abortion law is on the brink of being overturned south of the border, forcing the matter into political discussions around the globe.
"It is 100 per cent untrue that it is easy to get an abortion here," said Autumn Reinhardt-Simpson with the Alberta Abortion Access Network.
"You can have a right, but it does no good if you can't access it. And there are people all over this province, in cities as well who cannot access abortion."
The procedure takes "five to 10 minutes," Reinhardt-Simpson said, but because there are only two clinics in the province that are often busy, many people have to travel, miss a day of work and overcome emotional and logistical barriers to get it done.
The province pays for abortions and also points to the recent funding of the pill Mifegymiso, which is available during six to nine weeks of pregnancy, as “significantly improving access to abortion services.”
But Reinhardt-Simpson explained that she has a client who recently had to go to 10 different pharmacies in Edmonton before she found someone willing to prescribe it.