New abortion debate emerges in N.B. — on how best to improve access
2 groups diverge on interpretations of wait times, strategies
Health-care professionals who provide the service in three hospitals in the province say media reporting on claims of delays in those facilities is "inaccurate."
"The network's position is that no patient has had to wait more than two weeks since the hospital-based clinics opened as they are now," says Martha Paynter, a spokesperson for the New Brunswick Abortion Care Network.
The network says it's a "self-organized, collective effort" of doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners and pharmacists, some of whom work for hospital family-planning clinics but who speak as a group independently of the government.
"What we want to emphasize as a network is that all of the abortion-care providers in this province, in this country, are super-dedicated to patients, want them to get care as fast and as safely as possible and want them to to have information about all of the choices," Paynter said.
Clinic
554's medical director Dr. Adrian Edgar said in an email to Horizon
Health Network last week that there is a wait list for abortion in New
Brunswick. (Jon Collicott/CBC)
At the same time, staff at Fredericton's Clinic 554 — where the province refuses to fund surgical abortions — say it's the regional health authorities' claims of timely access that are inaccurate.
"There is and has always been a wait list for abortion" in New Brunswick, Clinic 554's medical director Dr. Adrian Edgar said in an email to Horizon's CEO last week.
"The patients tell me this directly."
The diverging interpretations of the two groups, both dedicated to access, became apparent last week when a federally commissioned report on the issue was released.
The report, which focuses on Clinic 554, called on the New Brunswick government to fund procedural abortions, also called surgical abortions, in clinics outside hospitals.
The report said a higher rate of patients at the clinic get an abortion before the ninth week of pregnancy than those in Canadian hospitals — one indicator of a barrier to access at hospitals, it concluded.
The Chaleur Regional Hospital in Bathurst is one of three New Brunswick hospitals that does abortions. (CBC)
The provincial government, however, disputed that there are delays at the three hospitals in Moncton and Bathurst that provide the service.
Clinic 554, in turn, cited two examples of women who staff said were referred there because they couldn't get hospital appointments before Dec. 10.
The Horizon and Vitalité health authorities responded that, as of last week, they were booking appointments for eight to 10 days later.
Now the abortion care network is backing that.
"Actual time between patients calling and being booked for care with hospital-based clinics is between 8-10 days," the network said in a statement.
A
federal report, authored primarily by law professor Jula Hughes,
suggests that the province should allow abortions in community clinics
to improve access to the procedure. (University of New Brunswick)
Paynter, an assistant professor of nursing at the University of New Brunswick, said two-thirds of patients who go to the hospital clinics choose medication abortions — the abortion pill Mifegymiso — which is prescribed up to the ninth week of pregnancy.
"By definition, those, at minimum, constitute two-thirds of all patients being under nine weeks," she said.
"So it's likely more than that, but it's definitely at least that."
The medication option has been covered by Medicare since 2017.
'This is apples and oranges'
Paynter questioned why the research study compared the timeline for Clinic 554 procedural abortions to those in hospitals nationally, rather than the three inside the province.
"You're comparing all of Canada with just New Brunswick. This is apples and oranges."
The study's lead author, Jula Hughes, told CBC News that her team was told gestational timeline data for the three New Brunswick hospitals was not available.
Hughes, a law professor and longtime supporter of Clinic 554, was commissioned to lead the research study in 2021, when the federal government was facing pressure to force the New Brunswick government to fund abortions at the clinic through Medicare.
Then-federal health minister Patty Hajdu announced the study at the clinic, which has been the focus of legal and political battles over abortion access for decades.
Patty
Hajdu, right, who was the federal health minister in 2021, stopped at
Clinic 554 in Fredericton to announce research to help improve access to
sexual and reproductive health-care supports, including protecting
access to abortions. (Jonathan Collicott/CBC)
Hughes's report pointed out other barriers to procedural abortions in hospitals, such as education levels, an inability to take time off work and the travel distance from many parts of the province to hospitals in Moncton and Bathurst.
The network's members say they are working to improve access where the service is available — for example by asking the province to set up a single provincial point-of-access phone number.
On its website, the network points out patients can book appointments directly with the hospital clinics at the Moncton and Bathurst hospitals, without a referral.
The site also includes links and resources to help patients contact providers that prescribe Mifegymiso, including the Fredericton Downtown Health Clinic, which offers virtual appointments provincewide, and the Saint John Sexual Health Centre.
Paynter says that's essential because media reporting focusing on Clinic 554 often ignores the growing use and availability of Mifegymiso.
"Nobody is talking about it," she said. "We've only had it since 2017 and it just gets excluded from the reporting."
More than two-thirds of abortions in the province in 2022 used medication, according to Martha Paynter. (Submitted by Martha Paynter)
That in turn can impede even wider access, she says.
"In theory, any primary care provider could prescribe it. But they don't even know about it."
Even so, more than two-thirds of abortions in the province in 2022 used medication, "a big change in a very short amount of time," Paynter said. "We are seeing very big changes, very fast, and it's great but it's kind of hard to keep up with."
Clinic 554 advocates see the situation differently.
Hughes's report is skeptical of what the provincial data on Mifegymiso means, saying the number of doses prescribed and covered by Medicare is "a very imperfect proxy for the rate of medical abortions in the province."
And Clinic 554's Edgar said the high number of medication abortions is evidence not that women are choosing the less intrusive route first — but that they're forced to go that route because hospital access is limited.
According
to Paynter, there are sometimes patients 'on the edge' of passing the
gestational point of their pregnancy when the hospitals will do the
procedure — 16 weeks in Moncton and 14 weeks in Bathurst — and then 'bad
luck' can make scheduling it impossible in time. (Guy LeBlanc/Radio-Canada)
Edgar has also accused Horizon and Vitalité of misleading the public on delays to access.
In an email last week he said he treated two patients referred from Vitalité hospitals because they could not get appointments before Dec. 10.
"I personally participated in the handover at the time of booking and literally have the faxed referral — on Vitalité letterhead — in this patient's chart," he said of one case.
He did not respond to a request from CBC News to provide a copy of the paperwork with the patient's information removed.
Paynter said there are sometimes patients "on the edge" of passing the gestational point of their pregnancy when the hospitals will do the procedure — 16 weeks in Moncton and 14 weeks in Bathurst — and then "bad luck" can make scheduling it impossible in time.
But in those cases, the network will help women find options outside the province, she says.
The differing interpretations can't be called a split in the movement for abortion access.
Both groups support the broad principle. And the network believes procedural abortions in clinics outside hospitals need to be part of the mix, calling the province's refusal to fund them "unfair."
But the Higgs government is adamant it will not fund the procedure at Clinic 554.
And Hughes's report acknowledged there is no "straightforward articulation" of a Charter right to abortion care that Ottawa could use to force the province to do so.
The Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre is one of two hospitals in Moncton that handles abortions. (Shane Magee/CBC)
Paynter would not comment on whether there's been too much focus on that issue.
"I don't want to speak on that," she said. "I want to promote understanding of what people can do."
That emphasis on improving existing options is bearing fruit, Paynter said.
The family planning clinic at the Dr. Georges-L. Dumont University Hospital in Moncton recently doubled its capacity, the network says.
And the clinic at the Moncton Hospital will soon do procedural abortions up to the 18th week of a pregnancy — two weeks longer than the current 16.
"We're making progress all the time," she said.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Amos
Reply to Don Corey
Allow surgical abortions in N.B. clinics, federal report says
Study says Ottawa lacks ‘straightforward’ authority to force province to improve access
But the report does not call on the federal government — which commissioned the study — to force the province to act, saying it's not clear Ottawa has a legal leg to stand on.
Its lead author, former University of New Brunswick law professor Jula Hughes, says the data from hospital abortions and those at Fredericton's Clinic 554 proves that "hospital access is just slower."
More than 60 per cent of abortions at the clinic were before nine weeks of pregnancy, compared to an average of around 30 per cent in Canadian hospitals, the report says.
"One of the concerns always with abortion access is the timeliness of it because it is such a time-sensitive procedure," Hughes said in an interview.
The
report's lead author, Jula Hughes, says if the province allowed
abortions in clinics, more patients would overcome the barriers they
encounter, including a lack of transportation. (University of New Brunswick)
"That seems to suggest some procedural barriers just in accessing the hospital system."
Current New Brunswick regulations require abortions to be performed in hospitals, and only three — two in Moncton and one in Bathurst — offer the service.
Premier Blaine Higgs has argued that is adequate service and the province doesn't need to offer abortions in more hospitals or to fund them at Clinic 554.
The study disputes that, using abortion statistics from the clinic between 2015 and 2020.
According to those numbers, 85 per cent of abortion patients paid the fee for the service out-of-pocket.
In 14 per cent of cases, the clinic helped cover the cost in full or in part.
"That of course creates the very thing that we're so proud our medicare system normally avoids, right, which is this two-tier access problem where people who can pay have very straightforward access," Hughes said.
If the province allowed abortions in clinics, more patients would overcome the barriers they encounter, including a lack of transportation, child care and time off work.
"Local access is really important," Hughes said.
Premier
Blaine Higgs has said that he believes the province's current access to
abortion in three hospitals is adequate, but the federal study disputes
that claim. (Submitted by the Government of New Brunswick)
The fact that the clinic provided 1,007 patients with abortions suggests the existing hospital access isn't enough, she added.
The report notes that the refusal to fund abortions at Clinic 554 continues even as the Higgs government has legalized other surgeries, such as cataract procedures, in clinics outside hospitals.
A spokesperson for the New Brunswick Department of Health said they could not comment on the study Tuesday.
Unequal access to the procedure
Claire Johnson, a professor in health-care management at the Université de Moncton who studies abortion issues, said the report is right to highlight that many marginalized groups have a harder time getting access.
"It's hard for certain populations and it's relatively easy for other ones," she said, adding the hospital-only Regulation 84-20 is "bizarre and archaic."
Claire
Johnson, a professor of health-care management at the Université de
Moncton, said the report correctly highlights the struggle different
demographics have with access to abortion. (Submitted by Claire Johnson)
"We don't really want to tackle the crux of the issue, which is that a lot of people are still very uncomfortable with accessing abortions in New Brunswick."
The study was commissioned by the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2021, in the run-up to a federal election.
While the authors say abortion access is "unquestionably a human right," they conclude that the Constitution and the Canada Health Act do not give Ottawa a clear-cut ability to pressure New Brunswick to do more.
"Canada lacks a straightforward articulation of a Charter right to abortion and a readily enforceable statutory right to funded abortion care," the report says.
In the 2019 election campaign, Trudeau vowed he would "ensure that the New Brunswick government allows access, paid-for access, to clinics that offer abortion services outside of hospitals."
He told reporters he would tell Higgs "that we will use all tools at our disposal, including tools that exist under the Canada Health Act."
But other than clawing back token amounts of federal health transfer payments, Trudeau didn't act.
National strategy needed
In 2021, there were more hints of imminent federal action. Instead, the government commissioned the study.
Hughes says there are things Ottawa can do that don't require "getting into a tangle with the province of New Brunswick in a legal forum," such as promoting a national strategy on rural and northern access to abortion.
For the province, she said, "the data that access is not as good as you think it is ought to have some persuasive force."
But more forceful legal action by Ottawa might go nowhere.
"Whether it would really fundamentally change the experience of people needing abortion care is not obvious to us," she said.
Feds continue to research issue
A spokesman for federal Health Minister Mark Holland said the government would keep funding research and community groups supporting abortion access and is willing to talk to New Brunswick about reimbursing health transfers it holds back over the issue.
In March, Ottawa said it was clawing back $64,850 from the province over abortion access.
The statement made no mention of any legal steps to force New Brunswick to do more.
Johnson, who plans to run for a provincial Liberal nomination in Moncton, said she expects the status quo to prevail "until we've got a provincial government who's motivated to make these changes. I don't think the federal government is going to be more aggressive on this."
Data compiled by UNB professor Martha Paynter shows more than two-thirds of abortions in New Brunswick in 2022 were medical. (Ed Hunter/CBC)
University of New Brunswick assistant professor Martha Paynter said earlier this year that new data on medical abortions — such as Mifegymiso, known as the abortion pill — was shifting the debate over access.
Data compiled by Paynter shows more than two-thirds of abortions in New Brunswick in 2022 were medical, not surgical.
Hughes questioned the data, saying the number of Mifegymiso prescriptions doesn't necessarily reflect the number of abortions because they can be used for other treatments.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
"Hughes says there are things Ottawa can do that don't require "getting into a tangle with the province of New Brunswick in a legal forum," such as promoting a national strategy on rural and northern access to abortion.
For the province, she said, "the data that access is not as good as you think it is ought to have some persuasive force."
But more forceful legal action by Ottawa might go nowhere.
"Whether it would really fundamentally change the experience of people needing abortion care is not obvious to us," she said.
David Amos
Reply to Ralph Skavinsky
Reply to Ralph Skavinsky
What he does now is cruel to vulnerable people; not everyone can quietly take a "vacation" to some other jurisdiction where nobody will recognise them.
Reply to G. Timothy Walton
But people like Higgs will just twist it to say that wouldn't happen in New Brunswick because we allow abortions, ignoring that timing and location of medical emergencies aren't always convenient.
Reply to G. Timothy Walton
"If Higgs doesn't like abortion, he should make sure all students have the education to avoid unwanted pregnancies before they're old enough to have or cause them."
Reply to G. Timothy Walton
Content Deactivated
Reply to Gregory Pittaway
Reply to Kyle Woodman
Reply to Dacre Gushue
Hmmm
Martha Diviine
Content Deactivated
rest of us can live in civilization.
SW Home
Reply to Martha Diviine
Here comes more Holier than thou comments
David Amos
Reply to SW Home
Yea Right
SW Home
Reply to Clive Gibbons
Reply to Bob Smith
Reply to Cj Blaise
Reply to Stephanie Perry
Reply to Stephanie Perry
Reply to Stephanie Perry
Martha Diviine
Content Deactivated
Abortions should not be allowed anywhere. Making a bad decision is no excuse to treat human life so cheaply. It’s not right.
David Amos
Reply to Martha Diviine
Amen
SW Home
Content Deactivated
what's makes you qualified to determine that?
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Her conscience
Tuesday, 28 February 2023
Federal health minister says N.B. abortion access can be 'difficult,' but is quiet on what Ottawa will do next
Federal health minister says N.B. abortion access can be 'difficult,' but is quiet on what Ottawa will do next
Jean-Yves Duclos avoids promising new steps to force province to do more
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 New Brunswick refuses to fund abortions at Fredericton's Clinic 554, a private clinic. (Jon Collicott/CBC)
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.
A 'red herring'
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.
Premier
Blaine Higgs now allows some surgeries to be performed in private
clinics outside hospitals and billed to Medicare, though not abortions. (CBC)
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.
Instead he simply noted that New Brunswick is the only province refusing to fund abortions outside hospitals.
"That raises the obvious question of accessibility to those services," he said.
"That's a question to put to the provincial government. It's also something we're very mindful of in working with the province and with community organizations to ensure that in this context women have access to that essential right."
Edelman said the legislation to allow private surgeries shows that Higgs's concerns about private clinics were "a red herring," and it's his personal views driving provincial policy.
"I'm not surprised they are expanding surgeries outside hospitals but not looking at us, at Clinic 554. I'm not surprised at all. Their interest has been always to limit abortion access, period," she said.
Last year Duclos announced $3.5 million for two abortion-rights organizations, including Action Canada, which helps cover travel and accommodation costs for people seeking abortions.
In 2021, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the study of abortion
access in New Brunswick, but results have been delayed. (Adrian Wyld/The
Canadian Press)
In the 2019 federal election campaign, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to "ensure" the province funded abortions at private clinics such as Fredericton's Clinic 554.
Trudeau claimed in 2021 that his government had clawed back "millions" of dollars in federal health transfer payments to New Brunswick over limits on access, but the actual amount that year was $140,216.
In the lead-up to another election campaign that year, his government announced the study of abortion access in the province.
The research project would examine gaps and barriers to the service, such as costs, transportation and discrimination and was expected to take 18 months.
Jula
Hughes, a former UNB law professor, is one of the researchers on the
abortion study and says it's not clear how quickly it will be published. (University of New Brunswick)
Former University of New Brunswick law professor Jula Hughes, one of the researchers on the project, said Monday that the report had been delayed, and she now expects to have it finished around June.
Hughes said it's not clear how quickly it will be published.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association is suing the province over abortion access, arguing New Brunswick is violating the Constitution and the Canada Health Act.
The province tried in 2021 to have the case thrown out, but a judge ruled the case could go ahead.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Peaceful Ambiance
Content Deactivated
Frank McKenna in the 90s was the last time the NB Liberal Party had any true New Brunswick convictions. Now they just betray NBers and push this Torontonians ideology on us. Hard to believe they used to be the party that stood up to Morgentaller when he was thirsting after NB’s unborn.
Peaceful Ambiance
Content Deactivated
Abortion is legal in this country doesn’t mean that anybody has to agree with it or fund it. I personally think it’s evil and I will never vote for a politician who wants to use taxpayer money to fund it.
Doug Saunders
Content Deactivated
oh boy
Morneau was right...most of these MPs selected by Trudeau in the 2nd term are just incompetent.
All talk and photo ops
Lynette Browne
Reply to Peaceful Ambiance
There are alot of things people do to themselves that I am not in favour of. They oftentimes end up needing HC, but I certainly don't go on about it
Content Deactivated
Michael Cain
Reply to Don Corey
It is the business of the feds to ensure the Health Act is adhered to.
Don Corey
Reply to Michael Cain
I'm well aware of that. It's also obvious the feds aren't sure if such is indeed the case, or they wouldn't be wasting money on another useless study (that is taking a ridiculously long time.
Brian Gallant initiated the plan to shut down Clinic 554.....he must have felt the Act was being followed. Of course, there's a difference in the way that Ottawa treats the now rare Liberal provincial governments.
Michael Cain
Reply to Don Corey
Contradicting yourself aside, the feds gave the money they held back from the province to UNB to produce the report in an effort to corroborate the need of access to the provincial government. The subject has always been a political hot potato for years. Now this government has a chance to end the issue. The sooner the government gets their nose out of the business of health care the better.
Les Cooper
Reply to Michael Cain
Hes probably Catholic
David Amos
Reply to Les Cooper
The last thing I am is a Catholic but I am married to one I am definitely Pro Life and she and my daughters are Pro Choice My son does not concern himself with the issue but he grateful for his Father's position on this topic for obvious reasons Go Figure
David Amos
Reply to Don Corey
Hmmm
Daniel Henwell
half the comments seem to be "deactivated". The remaining ones are all in favour of more public money for abortion clinics. Seems like only one side of this debate is tolerated.
Kyle Woodman
Reply to Daniel Henwell
Maybe because those who are commenting can't do so in a cogent manner without resorting to personal attacks, mistruths and hyperbole.
Lynette Browne
Reply to Daniel Henwell
The comments "deactivated" were very much anti-abortion, religious-type comments, and not related to how HC funding should be spent.
Randy Lahey
Reply to Lynette Browne
Freedom of religion and freedom of speech are not welcome here apparently 😒
David Amos
Reply to Kyle Woodman
What am I chopped liver?
David Amos
Reply to Randy Lahey
Amen
Kyle Woodman
Reply to David Amos
David I like you so you get a pass
David Amos
Reply to Kyle Woodman
I will always speak in defence of the unborn whether I am running against Liberals or not
Lynette Browne
Reply to Daniel Henwell
Apparently, we are not even allowed to explain to you why the comments were likely removed :). I'd suggest reading the posting above you for clarification :)
stewart benson
Reply to Daniel Henwell
They were not using thier real name pretty simple.
David Amos
Reply to stewart benson
I am
Michael Cain
Reply to Daniel Henwell
There is no debate. Higgs is a hypocrite
David Amos
Reply to Michael Cain
You have to be quick to see it but there is one Hell of a debate
If you don't want an abortion, don't get one. If you want an abortion, it should be more accessible. Stop playing politics with abortion. It's getting old.
David Amos
Content Deactivated
What if it was your child the government was aborting?
PersonalFundingForPersonalChoices Yes
Content Deactivated
That’s like saying it’s a choice to smoke so the government should fund cigarettes and make them accessible.
Kyle Woodman
Reply to PersonalFundingForPersonalChoices Yes
No it's not. Not even close. Why do anti abortion people have the worst analogies.
Kyle Woodman
Reply to David Amos
The government doesn't abort babies. Women, who have the right to chose their own medical care do.
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Right into the 9 month?
Kyle Woodman
Reply to David Amos
Stop with the hyperbole. There are no abortions performed at 9 months in NB.
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Clearly you ignored my point for reasons I will never understand
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Stop with the hyperbole??? YEA RIGHT
David Amos
Content Deactivated
How do you sleep at night?
Daana Scullly
Content Deactivated
It’s disturbing that so many people think abortion is somehow a simple act that doesn’t warrant proper scrutiny
David Amos
Reply to Daana Scullly
Ditto
Paul Richardson
Reply to Kyle Woodman
The abortion debate will never stop not matter how "old" you say it is.
I thought Higgs was all in favour of moving as many procedures as possible out of hospitals and into clinics.
Kyle Woodman
Reply to,SarahRose Werner
Only procedures he deems morally acceptable.
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to,SarahRose Werner
Go Figure
Garbage Can
1. More doctors signing off on it, which we had until Gallant changed it.
2. No tax payer funding.
3. High school curriculum to teach about it
4. Travel out of province
Then and only then can it be considered a choice. Choice to get doctor approval, choice to pay for it, choice to travel for it, and making these choices once educated about it. How can anyone make a choice if they aren’t knowledgeable about the choice they’re making??
If that’s too difficult then of course there are other more civilized choices in 2023 like birth control pills, adoption etc
Rosemary Hughes
Reply to Garbage Can
Having fun changing persona every 5 minutes?
Garbage Can
Reply to Rosemary Hughes
Doesn’t change the validity of what I’m saying
Rosemary Hughes
Reply to Garbage Can
What you're saying has no validity.
Garbage Can
Content Deactivated
Okay so let it stand then. Once I’m allowed to say what I want, I’ll leave it at that.
Rosemary Hughes
Reply to Garbage Can
I'm not flagging you. I'm happy to leave it up. Demonstrates the id iocy of what you're saying.
Garbage Can
Content Deactivated
Thank you, I’m fine with you calling it that. Your opinion and you’re entitled to it, no matter how deprived it is.
Rosemary Hughes
Reply to Garbage Can
"Deprived"?
Garbage Can
Content Deactivated
Sorry I meant Depraved. And be please not I’m not being rude, I truly think abortion and advocating for it is depraved. I’m fine with you calling my views idiotic so fairs fair.
Rosemary Hughes
Reply to Garbage Can
You can think whatever you please. You cannot impose those "thoughts" on others by attempting to legislate them.
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Me Too but you should do your protest with a real name as per the rules
Garbage Can
Content Deactivated
Nope, I have many many reasons why I don’t. For one, we don’t live in a free society, we live in one where someone who expressed views that were the norm just 10 years ago are now having those views brought up for public scrutiny, jobs etc in 2023. You obviously disagree, but please stop telling me that I have to follow and respect the rules.you do, fine, I don’t I won’t.
David Amos
Content Deactivated
You are very wrong about me but if you do not have a name you are nobody
Garbage Can
Content Deactivated
All I said is that you follow and respect the rules. Isn’t that what you are complaining about?
We do not live in a free country and being a loud nobody is preferable to being silent nobody.
David Amos
Content Deactivated
How many times have you been falsely imprisoned after running for public office and speaking your mind?
Lynette Browne
Reply to PersonalChoicesShouldBePersonallyFunded Uh Uh huh
David Amos
Reply to Lynette Browne
I concur
So I guess Justin and the Liberal party are in favour of privatized health care if it's to their advantage politically.
David Amos
Reply to Vernon McPhee
Well put
N.B. minister defends funding private cataract surgery clinics, refusing abortion clinics
Minister says hospital abortions are accessible, but clinic manager says that’s not the case
The Higgs government says there's no contradiction between its funding of cataract surgeries in private clinics outside hospitals and its refusal to pay for surgical abortions in clinics.
Health Minister Bruce Fitch told reporters that Medicare covers the cataract surgeries because there's a long wait list for the procedure that the new private clinics are helping to reduce.
"The big thing that we have to point to is the wait line and the wait time," he said, calling cataract surgeries "one of the areas where we could move quickly."
"On the abortion question, we're not seeing the wait line or the wait time," he said.
A
new research study that found women paying for abortions at
Fredericton's Clinic 554 get them earlier in their pregnancies than
those going to hospitals, where the cost is covered. (Jon Collicott/CBC)
"People have access through various means. Some of the methods have improved," he added, referring to the growing share of medical abortions using the so-called "abortion pill" covered by Medicare.
But Fitch's comments on access are at odds with a new research study that found women paying for the procedure at Fredericton's Clinic 554 get it earlier in their pregnancies than those going to hospitals, where the cost is covered.
The report released Monday said that more than 60 per cent of abortions at the clinic happened before the ninth week of pregnancies, compared to only 30 per cent on average in Canadian hospitals.
With 85 per cent of patients paying the full fee out of pocket, the report's authors concluded this amounts to unequal access.
Fitch did not say why he thought women would choose a for-fee service over one that is covered by Medicare at the three hospitals.
"That's a decision that they make. That's a decision people make," he said.
Long hospital abortion waits, says Clinic 554 manager
The manager of Fredericton's Clinic 554 Valerya Edelman told CBC News that she encountered a new example of limits on hospital access just this week.
Edelman said a patient was referred to the clinic because there were no abortion appointments available at the hospital in Bathurst until early December, and at the two hospitals in Moncton until late December.
Those three hospitals are the only ones providing the service. But in each case the delay meant the woman's pregnancy would be past the point of gestation where their policies allow them to do the procedure.
"That tells me that there's not enough access in the hospitals. The wait times are long."
Fitch
at the new Fredericton Cataract Surgical Centre. He says the government
asked regional health authorities to look at whether surgical abortions
were accessible and “the answer was ‘yes.’ (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
Fitch said the government asked regional health authorities to look at whether surgical abortions were accessible and "the answer was 'Yes.' That's where we don't see the wait lines, we don't see the wait times."
Horizon Health CEO Margaret Melanson backed him up.
"During the time that I have been interim CEO, I have not had any concern expressed to me personally with regard to challenges with regard to wait time or access," she said.
Edelman said the claims by Fitch and Melanson are "just rhetoric to support their restrictions on abortion access."
The minister and the Horizon CEO made the comments at the official opening of the province's third private cataract surgery clinic.
The government passed legislation last year allowing surgeries to happen outside hospitals.
Horizon
Health CEO Margaret Melanson says during her time as interim CEO she
has not had any concern expressed to her personally with regard to
hospital abortion wait time or access challenges. (Submitted by Horizon Health Network)
Fitch said similar clinics in Bathurst and Miramichi have done 2,521 and 1,169 cataract surgeries, respectively, since opening in the last year.
Horizon's wait time for cataract surgery has been cut to 231 days from 326, on the way to meeting the national benchmark of 112 days in the next year, Melanson said.
She did not provide data on the wait time for a surgical abortion at Horizon's Moncton Hospital.
The other two hospitals providing abortions are Vitalité Health centres in Moncton and Bathurst.
The abortion access report highlighted the legalization of non-hospital surgeries to permit the cataract clinics, pointing out the government's stated rationale was to "improve service to patients and alleviate pressure on our hospital system."
"The same benefits can be observed for clinic-based abortion care," the report said.
The building housing Clinic 554 was sold in 2022, but the clinic is continuing to rent space and provide abortions one day each week.
The clinic charges $700, or $850 for patients at 14 and 15 weeks of gestation. It waives the fee for women who can't afford it.
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N.B. health authorities dispute claims of long abortion wait times
Hospitals say they can schedule appointments within 8-10 days, not 2-4 weeks
New Brunswick's two health authorities are disputing the suggestion that patients seeking surgical abortions have to wait several weeks to have the procedure at the three hospitals offering the service.
Horizon Health and Vitalité Health were responding to the manager of Clinic 554 in Fredericton, who said a woman was recently referred to the clinic because she could not get an appointment in Moncton before the end of December.
Christa Wheeler-Thorne, the executive director at the Moncton Hospital, said in a statement to CBC News that on Wednesday, surgical abortions were being booked for next Thursday, Nov. 23.
"Women do not require a physician referral to receive services at the Family Planning Clinic at Horizon's The Moncton Hospital and are scheduled for the next available appointment time," she said.
"If there is a wait time, it is usually no more than one or two weeks, and this has been consistent for many years."
Vitalité
Health said in a statement its clinics at Bathurst’s Chaleur Hospital
and the Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre in Moncton 'are
not overloaded and do not have a waiting list.' (Shane Magee/CBC)
Vitalité Health said in a statement its clinics at Bathurst's Chaleur Hospital and the Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre in Moncton "are not overloaded and do not have a waiting list."
A first appointment can usually be scheduled within 48 hours, and abortions are typically performed within 10 business days, said Karen Frenette, the corporate director of outpatient clinics at Vitalité.
The two hospitals "have the capacity to accommodate a higher demand," she said.
The issue of wait times flared again this week following the publication of a research study that recommended the province allow Medicare to fund surgical abortions, also known as procedural abortions, in clinics outside hospitals.
Health
Minister Bruce Fitch told reporters Wednesday that 'we’re not seeing
the wait line or the wait times' for abortions in the three New
Brunswick hospitals providing the service. (Jacques Poitras)
The study found that more than 60 percent of patients using Fredericton's Clinic 554 — which charges a $700 fee for most procedural abortions — are able to get the procedure before the ninth week of pregnancy.
That compares to only 30 per cent of the procedures at Canadian hospitals happening before the ninth week, the report said.
"That seems to suggest some procedural barriers just in accessing the hospital system," said Prof. Jula Hughes, the report's lead author.
The report did not provide a timeline comparison with the three New Brunswick hospitals providing the service.
Health Minister Bruce Fitch told reporters Wednesday that "we're not seeing the wait line or the wait times" in those three hospitals.
The
medical director at the Clinic 554 in Fredericton, Dr. Adrien Edgar,
said in an email to Horizon CEO Margaret Melanson Thursday morning that
the wait list “is over a month long” at The Moncton Hospital. (Mike Heenan/CBC)
Clinic 554 director Valerya Edelman responded that a patient was recently referred to the clinic who couldn't get an appointment until early December in Bathurst and late December in Moncton.
That would have put the woman past the gestational point where those hospitals' policies allow them to do procedural abortions, she said.
Asked Thursday about the statements from the two health authorities, Edelman said a nurse who referred the patient to her told her about the December timelines for appointments and she could not explain the discrepancy.
She said typically patients at Clinic 554 tell her they encounter a wait time of two to four weeks at the hospitals.
Edgar
says the arguments Fitch and Melanson used for funding cataract
surgeries in private clinics outside hospitals are also good reasons to
fund clinic abortions. (Hadeel Ibrahim/CBC)
The medical director at the clinic, Dr. Adrien Edgar, insisted in an email to Horizon CEO Margaret Melanson Thursday morning that the wait list "is over a month long" at the Moncton Hospital.
"We routinely receive referrals for patients who are unable to obtain an appointment for an abortion in the hospital before Horizon's gestational limit is passed," he said in the email, which he copied to reporters.
He said the arguments Fitch and Melanson used for funding cataract surgeries in private clinics outside hospitals — such as shorter turnaround times between patients and no competition for operating room time — are also good reasons to fund clinic abortions.
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