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https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/ccla-threatens-lawsuit-over-abortion-1.5763355
Civil liberties group prepared to sue New Brunswick over access to abortion
Province is asked to repeal law that prevents funding outside hospitals
· CBC News · Posted: Oct 16, 2020 5:00 AM AT
Clinic 554, the only location in the province to offer surgical abortions outside a hospital, closed its doors on Sept. 30. (CBC)
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.
But the New Brunswick government's rigid refusal to fund abortions outside of hospitals has left civil libertarians no choice but to start legal action, said Noa Mendelsohn Aviv of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.
The organization sent a letter to the New Brunswick government Wednesday, promising legal action if the government doesn't repeal the law that only allows for funding for abortions done in hospitals.
Mendelsohn Aviv said she doesn't believe the government will repeal the law without a fight.
"Although we started it with a letter and we'd like to end it with the letter ... we are going to see it through. We have the resources. We have the support. We have the team. We have the knowledge. And we intend to pursue this all the way through until an unnecessary, unjustifiable restriction on access to abortion is removed or repealed," said Mendelsohn Aviv, the association's equality program director.
- After fraught history on abortion access, Liberals not budging from shift on clinic
- 36 senators sign letter in support of Clinic 554
She said New Brunswick continues to ignore the constitutional rights of women, girls and trans individuals.
Kerri Froc, an associate law professor at the University of New Brunswick, who is helping the Canadian Civil Liberties Association in its action against the government, said it's "totally ridiculous" to have to resort to a lawsuit to get the government to make changes that every other province already has.
"It shouldn't have to come to this," she said.
"I
just don't agree with the government spending our hard-earned tax
dollars to go and try to litigate this so that people that have been
denied health care are fighting against a government using their own
money, essentially," said Froc.
Kerri Froc, an associate law professor at the University of New Brunswick, at a gathering last month to protest the closing of Clinic 554. (Submitted by Kerri Froc)
The province has steadfastly been against funding abortions since the 1980s, when Dr. Henry Morgentaler first announced that he would set up an abortion clinic in Fredericton.
Through a series of court battles and constitutional challenges, the province eventually began funding abortions done in hospitals.
Currently, three hospitals — two in Moncton and one in Bathurst — perform surgical abortions.
Clinic 554 in Fredericton continues to perform abortions, although "that could end any day," said Edgar, since they're not funded by Medicare.
Edgar
said the building is for sale, but he's still willing to talk to
government officials about the future of the facility. He says no one
has ever called him back — not the premier, the health minister, nor the
province's chief medical officer of health.
The building that houses Clinic 554 until Sept. 30 is up for sale. (Mike Heenan/CBC)
He said he sent at least 30 messages to the former health minister and four to the new minister and hasn't received anything in return.
Edgar has also scaled back his family medicine practice to only the "most vulnerable patients," putting thousands of people back on the waiting list for a family doctor.
"There are some services that we could reintroduce or try to maintain, especially the ones that are so unique. The government really has to respond to any of my attempts to meet with them. And they just simply don't."
That leaves three hospitals that perform surgical abortions — and now two of them are practically shut down after the Moncton health region was returned to the orange phase. People are advised not to travel into or out of those areas, which means access to abortions is even further limited, said Froc.
"New Brunswick's restrictions on abortions are insidious and create undue hardship on women, girls and trans individuals … With those three hospitals in two cities, 90 per cent of New Brunswickers do not have adequate abortion services in their local community," said Mendelsohn Aviv.
"We're continuing Dr. Morgentaler's fight, and are committed to seeing this through," she said.
While not optimistic, Edgar is hopeful that the government won't continue to fight a legal battle that governments all across Canada have conceded in recent decades.
"Well, my hope is that the government in New Brunswick will just take a moment to reflect on what there is to gain and what there is to lose by fighting a protracted court battle," said Edgar.
Froc calls it "a loser of a case."
Legal history
Mendelsohn Aviv doesn't think the province's initial approach to Morgentaler will hold much legal weight if the province decides to fight this time around.
At the time, Morgentaler applied for public interest standing in the case, but the province argued that only a woman directly affected by the restrictions could challenge their constitutionality.
In 2009, the Court of Appeal of New Brunswick rejected the province's argument and granted Morgentaler public-interest standing.
The decision was not appealed, but Morgentaler died before the challenge could proceed.
Mendelsohn Aviv says the law on public interest standing has evolved since that time and she doesn't think the New Brunswick government would get very far with it today.
She said courts understand that average citizens don't have the time or the resources to launch protracted legal battles on constitutional issues.
"And so there is more room for public interest groups to advance causes on behalf of the many people who are affected in the public," said Mendelsohn Aviv.
And that's where groups like hers come in.
When asked for an interview with Premier Blaine Higgs on Thursday, a spokesperson for the province responded by email on Friday morning, saying, "We do not comment on potential legal matters."
There is no defined requirement in the Health Act that requires clinics be funded. Rather the services need to be made available and not rationed.
It could be worse, it could be somebody associated with the city of St John whining about money....................
I think the idea of standing around (doing not much of anything) and whining about money is worse that those willing to put at least a little effort in to correct their situation.
That very good question should be directed directly to Mr Higgs.
You are using a term, in your post, that I find suspect. That term is " health specialist". If you are suffering from chronic pain go and see your GP (doctor), he/she will offer you an immediate solution (likely pills), and will refer you to a specialist (also a doctor), who will access your condition and offer solutions that are covered by medicare. Any " health specialist" who wants to remove you from the medicare system and tap your bank account is highly suspect.
I am not disparaging alternative medicine, but in this case, and all cases, conventional medicine should be explored first, especially for someone concerned with cost. You are right, the pills can cause troubles, as can anything you choose to put into your body. Anyone suffering with chronic pain needs (and deserves) relief from that pain immediately, if not sooner.
However it appears that at least we agree on Pro Life issues N'esy Pas?
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/public-funding-for-private-abortions-1.5741798
Funding abortions in private clinics would be a 'slippery slope,' says Higgs
New interim Liberal Leader says his party would fund private clinic abortions
· CBC News · Posted: Sep 28, 2020 6:18 PM AT
Fredericton's Clinic 554 is at the heart of a debate over funding for abortions outside hospitals. (Mike Heenan/CBC)
Kerri Froc still believes the government had no authority to remove tents that were part of a citizens protest at the New Brunswick Legislature on Friday.
But the associate law professor at the University of New Brunswick said the debate only diverts attention from the real issue — the lack of government funding for abortions performed at Fredericton's Clinic 554.
While seizing the tents was a "distraction," Froc said the move is "connected" to the larger issue.
"You have a government that thinks that they can ride roughshod over our private property rights, over our constitutional rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, and also thumb their nose at women's constitutional rights."
She said it's the same issue that women have been battling in New Brunswick for decades.
"We just keep on having to fight this fight over and over again. And here we are in New Brunswick in the year 2020 … having to fight fights that women had to fight in the 1970s."
Premier Blaine Higgs reacts to the removal of a Clinic 554 protester from the legislature grounds. 2:09
On Monday morning, Premier Blaine Higgs said he wasn't opposed to more hospitals offering abortions.
"If it really is access, then there's an avenue to deal with that," he said during a news conference.
But the request should come from health officials, not politicians, said Higgs.
Froc said Higgs's willingness to provide abortions at more hospitals is "somewhat of a development," but she said health officials have already made it clear that they'd like to see better access.
Horizon Health has already joined reproductive right activists in calling for funding private-clinic abortions. The authority passed a resolution to that effect earlier this year.
"Every excuse they've thrown up has been thoroughly debunked," said Froc. "So what's left?"
Kerri Froc, an associate law professor at the University of New Brunswick, at the Clinic 554 protest in Fredericton before the tent in back of her was taken down by government officials on Friday night. (Submitted by Kerri Froc)
As for the complaints from protesters about having their tents removed from the grounds of the New Brunswick Legislature on Friday night, Higgs said the decision wasn't made by him but by the Speaker of the legislature.
"But it's my understanding that the protesters themselves were never removed. It was only the structures that were a concern."
Participants were protesting the lack of funding of abortions outside hospitals. Currently, Medicare only covers abortions performed at three hospitals in the province, two in Moncton and one in Bathurst.
The only other place providing surgical abortion services is Clinic 554.
It is a slippery slope. And if you do it for one service, where does it stop?
-Blaine Higgs
On Friday evening, protesters were presented with a notice from the sergeant-at-arms. It said that no structures, including tents, could be erected on the property and camping was not permitted.
Froc, who was part of the protest, said there was no legal basis for removing the tents. She said she spent hours looking for legal justification and couldn't find any.
Speaker Daniel Guitard told CBC News on the weekend that he made the decision with the staff and advisory team after being told it was a longstanding practice not to permit tents on the property for security reasons.
Dominic Cardy, who criticized the speaker in a tweet Saturday, refused to discuss the issue with reporters Monday. He would not say whether he agrees the Speaker had the authority to remove the tents.
On Monday, the newly named interim Liberal leader sided solidly with the protestors.
"The protest should not have happened," said Roger Melanson. "Because if the current premier would fund Clinic 554, there wouldn't have been anybody here on the weekend. And individual rights and women's rights would have been respected."
Interim Liberal Leader Roger Melanson says his party would fund Clinic 554. (CBC)
Melanson said his party supports funding Clinic 554.
"We have said that during the campaign and we still support that," he said on Monday.
"It's a human right, it's an individual right, and the premier should realize that the services that are offered there are important and essential."
Clinic 554
Clinic 554 is a family medical practice that, in its words, "is committed to sex-positive, gender-celebratory care, anti-racist and feminist practices, and full-scope reproductive care, including abortions."
It serves about 3,000 patients as a family practice, and every service it provides — other than abortion — is covered by Medicare, said Dr. Adrian Edgar, who runs the clinic.
Edgar, who specializes in LGBTQ care, said the clinic subsidizes the cost of abortions for patients. He said that just isn't viable and he plans to close the facility.
On Monday, Higgs maintained his position that the province is not violating the Canada Health Act by not funding abortions outside hospitals.
He said abortions are already funded at three hospitals and if the question is about access, "then the next suggestion should be, 'Well, then is there another hospital that should be performing the service?'"
Higgs said he's concerned that funding abortions in private clinics would set a precedent.
"So if we're going to suggest … that it's more cost-effective to offer services in a private clinic, then where does that stop? Does that mean that we should continue to offer more and more services in private clinics and less and less services in public institutions?"
Higgs said it's "a slippery slope. And if you do it for one service, where does it stop?"
Methinks Cardy has finally been told to clam up N'esy Pas?
It's not something we should be promoting.
Make your case.
No harm no foul.
SarahRose ... Your posts are always thoughtful, informative, insightful and calming.
Particularly during COVID.
I, for one, am glad your mother "decided to stay and try to make ... for the sake of the child". You bring so much intelligence and common sense to the commentary.
Thank you.
SarahRose, it sounds like your childhood wasn't always pleasant from what was suggested here, and I'm sorry to hear that happened...
HOWEVER....I'm glad you're with us, and your mom kept you. You are NOT a mistake.
I am glad you are here to express your views, you are a star in the midnight sky.
I definitely don't use Hamlet as a reference when envisioning how we should live our lives.
And, to me, there is no question...'TO BE' is the answer.
Unfortunately the debate is only going to get worse over the next 20 years as science continues to improve in leaps and bounds and we learn more and more about the unborn and what they will be after birth and as they grow.
I can easily envision by 2050 by week four of a pregnancy we have a complete map of the unborn and who and what they will be. Height, illnesses, hair colour, sex, genetic markers. Etc.
It really is a fascinating ethical issue.
Methinks you should consider that fact that we all once walked in the path of the souls of the unborn who can't speak for themselves yet. Please consider your ethics again. i trust that the pro choice people cannot deny they had the same standing as the unborn for 9 months or so and are no doubt doubt grateful to walk among us now and yap a great deal about their right to free health care while Higgy et al deny me the right to the same N'esy Pas?
You can know the sex by week 9 or 10.
Do we really want gender based child selection in Canada?
killing an unborn baby at 3 month is the same as killing an unborn baby at 6 month
So who gets to determine th@4 level of "feel".
Shh but almost all pro choices refuse to even consider it a living thing (probably so they can sleep at night).
I've gotten into many many arguments about that point with my fellow pro choices. It really bothers me thst they use that excuse/logic.
I concur
Like dental hygiene?
That depends. Most dentist work is cosmetic and not health.
Try doing some research.
You don't die from a removed tooth instead of a root canal to make it pretty again.
Pathetic
health or burden?
Please quote the bible parts he quoted.
I wonder if he has a clue?
And the trails to the moon are fabricated with Martian dust
Marc LeBlanc And this is just the beginning of four years of "the world according to Higgs"
The history of politics.
And censorship.
Which it shouldn't be if it's simply not wanting a kid. Which has nothing to do with health and a doctor.
Don't get me wrong, I'm pro abortion. But let's be real and not use fake justifications,
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https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2020/09/funding-abortions-in-private-clinics.html
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/poets-defend-place-city-hall-1.5744719
Poets defend their place at city hall
Fredericton tight lipped about poet laureate deliberations after some councillors object to abortion poem
· CBC News · Posted: Sep 30, 2020 3:10 PM AT
Rebecca Thomas said she used her position as poet laureate to bring a Mi'kmaw voice to Halifax council that they were otherwise not hearing. (Emily Penton)
Two former poets laureate are praising Fredericton's Jenna Lyn Albert for drawing attention to the closure of Clinic 554.
Albert read a poem about abortion at Monday night's city council meeting and dedicated it to the clinic, which may be closing for good Wednesday, because of a lack of government funding for its services.
The clinic has been a family practice with about 3,000 patients and provided specialized care to the LGBTQ2+ community. It has also been the only place in the city and all of central or western New Brunswick where abortions were available.
The poem "acknowledges some of the ways in which there are still barriers and issues in terms of access," to abortion, said Albert.
After she read the poem, some councillors said it was too political and suggested the matter should be referred to the city's governance committee, a working group made up of two councillors and six staffers, who do research and make recommendations to council.
City communications staff could not yet confirm what exactly that working group will be asked to look into, if anything.
It's a poet laureate's responsibility to bring forth community concerns, according to former Halifax poet laureate Rebecca Thomas.
"It is a position of influence and public voice and so I think using that responsibility in this way is a very good thing."
Thomas said poems can be a starting point for difficult conversations.
During her tenure, she wrote and recited a poem to Halifax council about removing a statue of the city's founder Edward Cornwallis, who signed a proclamation offering a cash bounty to anyone who killed a Mi'kmaw person.
Halifax's poet laureate Rebecca Thomas on the legacy of Edward Cornwallis. 3:09
It ignited debate and within a year, a majority of councillors voted to have the statue removed.
"I just happened to have a pithy few lines that were impactful to the councillors. But to be associated with that was pretty incredible."
Albert said she tried to model her work in the poet laureate position after Thomas and after another Halifax poet El Jones, who gave voice to the underrepresented Black community.
Women are similarly underrepresented on Fredericton city council.
Thomas noted the councillors who voiced their objections to the abortion poem were male.
"That signals to me that perhaps those council members need to have a better education on what it is like to be a woman in those circumstances," she said.
Albert's predecessor Ian Letourneau said he's proud of Albert and stands "firmly" behind her.
"Poets need to respond to what is happening in their community," he said, and "speak truth, however they see fit."
A poet laureate has "a finger on the pulse of the community," he said, "to know what needs to be discussed, dissected, and viewed from different angles."
The closure of Clinic 554 is of pressing community importance, said Letourneau.
"What better subject to call attention to right now and ask us to reflect on for a few moments than this?"
"The needed health services they provide to women and the LGBTQ community are about to evaporate, throwing thousands of vulnerable patients on a doctor waiting list."
Letourneau said if anything about the poet laureate's role should be examined, it's the compensation, to bring it up to what others are paid.
According to the League of Canadian Poets there are poets laureate in about 30 communities across the country who have varying degrees of artistic freedom.
They "foster essential, personal and timely conversations through their art," said League president Sarah de Leeuw.
Albert said she welcomed a discussion of her role, but she hopes council doesn't set too many restrictions.
"Poetry is inherently political," she said. "It would be lacklustre if you were to take that aspect of of creativity and of the art form away from it."
Albert's term expires in December. She wonders what's in store for her successor.
"If we have a Black poet laureate, will they be able to share poems about things that concern them? If we have an Indigenous poet laureate, will they be able to read poetry about missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls? It really brings about a bigger concern for whether these poets will feel like they're being censored and unable to share poetry, that isn't fluffy and pretty."
With files from Maritime Noon and Information Morning Fredericton
In most cases, the hate isn't for religion per se, it is for baptism and Catholicism. Meanwhile efforts continue to ensure other religions and their practices are allowed in Canada.
Why can't we move on?
Because that doesn't come with a "payday" for something done to a distant ancestor.
No it was hundreds of years ago. Nobody is still alive to "compensate".
$3,000 per year
Well 3k a year works out to 4 hours a week at $er hour,
I don't think it takes four hours to read the limerick so you may be correct on the charge per limerick
Especially for performances that are divisive and divide the population. City council job is to build unity,
In general yes it is.
However there are certainly topics that are more fire than fuel.
Hearing a poem was done does not provide a forum for discussion of the issue to come to a position of unity.
So I can assume you'd be okay with a far right poem being read?
Fredericton city councillors question poet laureate's role after abortion poem read
While some councillors say poem was too political, others disagree
The role of Fredericton's poet laureate is being questioned after Jenna Lyn Albert read a poem about abortion access at Monday night's council meeting, which some councillors said was too political.
The issue will go to the governance committee for further discussion.
"I'm terribly concerned that we are now politicizing our poems," said Coun. Dan Keenan, after Albert read the poem.
"I completely agree with freedom of speech and the right for people to say what they want to say — but that was never the intention of this form that we developed."
The poem, Those Who Need To Hear This Won't Listen by Ottawa-based poet Conyer Clayton, depicts her experience having an abortion. Here it is in part:
I cried.
A procedural pinch
deep in my belly. Little pinch now.
Nondescript ceiling. Big pinch now.
A nurse held my hand.
Are you ready?
Are you sure?
Albert said she felt there was a need to share the poem now.
"With the impending closure of Clinic 554 … I felt it was really important to share a poem about the importance of abortion access."
Coun. Stephen Chase agreed with Keenan.
"It was never intended to be a political statement. I think Coun. Keenan's comments are absolutely right."
Reflection of community
Keenan called for a rethink of how the poet laureate operates. But not at all councillors agreed.
"It's a reflection of our community," said Coun. John MacDermid.
"We've had commentary, we've had poems about Black Lives Matter and the experience of people of colour within our community, and it's not the experience that anyone around this table has," MacDermid said. "And it's important that we have those conversations. It's not political. It's a better community and it's a reflection of our community."
He added that he would not want to change the kind of conversation the poet laureate brings to council.
Coun. Kate Rogers said it's the role of the poet laureate to provide cultural commentary.
"The arts gives an opportunity for a person to be provocative and to express ideas and perspectives … and to me, that's what we have had."
Albert said she was shocked by the response to the poem.
"It is kind of difficult to be a woman sharing a poem about reproductive rights, which are evidently important to me and many people that have uteruses in this city and in this province and to be shut down and told it's too political, which is often the case when you're discussing issues like this — it's really difficult"
But this isn't the first time she's faced pushback on a poem that could be considered controversial.
In June, Albert proposed the reading of a poem by local poet Thandiwe McCarthy, Enough, about police violence against Black people. Initially she was not allowed to read the poem. Mayor Mike O'Brien later said he regretted the decision, and McCarthy was invited to perform his poem at council.
About the Author
In the proper place, yes,
Council meetings need to be for business. Otherwise nothing will ever get done if we just let everyone present their art.
They already don't get the work done they need to. They hardly need more distractions.
If they (council) want to have open mic night, then hold an event.
We are supposed to be intelligent snimals and have grown last the need to rut,
Dan, you better not have ever had any kind of kid making encounters prior to marrying the woman who is currently wanting a child, infertile, adjusted or elsewise aged out of it.
There are many children out there desperate for an sdult(S) to care for them. You don't need to have a kid, to have a kid,
My point was there are options rather than an abortion of one knows they do not wish to bear a kid.
What the... is your problem. Not everything is about you,
Pathetic in this days and ages
Seems to me it's you judging others not meeting your standards and expectations,
I'm (Higgs is) not judging!
You're judging, with your comment on judging!
Yeeeaah.
The comment was to Chantal. Who was attacking religion, and therefore being judgemental.
As for my posts. They are to invoke discussion and present possible other views. They rarely have little to do with how I actually feel on any issue.
Some of us can actually do that. See both sides of an issue and find good and bad points in both sides. It's called intelligence.
You have demonstrated very little tolerance for opposing views in past encounters,
"I smoke my pipe and I meditate in the light of the Midnight Sun,
And sometimes I wonder if they was, the awful things I done.
And as I sit and the parson talks, expounding of the Law"
From the Poem entitles The Ballad of Blasphemous Bill
By Robert W. Service
As is your right to your opinion and your ability to seek change to match your ideals.
"Methinks the PC lady Andrea Johnson and Higgy should not deny that the MLAs Sherry Wilson, Mary Wilson, Dorothy Shephard, Margaret Johnson, Kathy Bockus, Tammy Scott-Wallace, Jill Green, Arlene Dunn and Andrea Anderson-Mason no doubt remember everything I said to them and or about them during the election I put in writing N'esy Pas?"
It is however something living and growing and with potential.
A person who wants an abortion by definition is NOT an “expectant mother”.
Well, there, then.
I get frustrated when mine get removed, too.
It's a thing. A dance. A weird and unknowable maze.
"The arts gives an opportunity for a person to be provocative and to express ideas and perspectives … and to me, that's what we have had."
Albert said she was shocked by the response to the poem."
Methinks if abortion issues equal culture then there must be something very strange in the water in Fat Fred City N'esy Pas?
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