GRSJ224/Abortion Access in British Columbia

Abortion Access in British Columbia

History of Abortion in Canada

In Canada, abortion was first criminalized in 1869. Until 1969, abortion was deemed illegal by the Criminal Code of Canada. That year, Section 251 began to make exceptions for abortions that were performed at "accredited and approved hospitals." However, these hospitals were few and far between, thus barriers to access remained. In 1988, the Supreme Court of Canada heard the case of Regina v. Morgentaler. This case challenged Section 251, which the majority of judges on the panel agreed interfered with Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which promises the right to "life, liberty, and security" of person. After 1989, no further legislative attempts to restrict abortion were made. As of present day, there are no legislative or judicial restrictions on abortion in Canada.

Barriers to Access

While abortion is legal in present day British Columbia, many women still face barriers to access.

Lack of Preferred Type of Abortion

There are two main types of abortion: surgical and medical. In Canada, there is a lack of access to medication-induced abortions, or medical abortions. 96% of abortions performed in Canada are surgical. This statistic is reflective of the lack of choices for women in British Columbia.

The lack of access of medical abortions in Canada can be explained by the fact that the best medication available for inducing abortions were not available in the country until very recently. Health Canada approved this drug, called Mifepristone, in 2015. In January 2017, it was made available to Canadians.

Lack of Providers

As of 2014, in Canada, there are a total of 94 facilities that can provide abortion services to women. 46 of these are located in Quebec. A mere 16 are located in British Columbia, with half (eight) being situated in rural areas. Eight of the sixteen facilities are abortion clinics. The remainder can be characterized as hospitals or community health centres that perform abortion services.

As of 2011, 86% of British Columbians lived in urban areas while 14% of British Columbians lived in rural areas. The Lower Mainland of British Columbia is home to over 60% of the total British Columbian population but home to only four abortion clinics. Thus, there is a disproportionate amount of abortion facilities in rural British Columbia and a clear lack of abortion providers for British Columbians who live in the Lower Mainland or other urban areas.

Required Transportation or Travel

As of 2014, there are only 16 operating abortion facilities in British Columbia, which is composed of 357,216 square miles of land. As a result, many British Columbian women are forced to leave their homes and travel long distances for their procedures. Many studies have shown that the further a woman is required to travel, the less likely she is to actually obtain an abortion.

The requirement of transportation or disproportionately affects women of lower income or women of younger age, as it is more difficult for them to pay for travel expenses or even access travel.

Legal/Extra-Legal Obstacles

Despite the fact that abortion is legal in Canada, healthcare providers (such as hospitals) still face legal or extra-legal obstacles in order to provide abortion services, which limits access to abortion services for British Columbian women. These can include, "institutional policies regulating the delivery of abortion services, the costs of the procedure, the imposition of gestational limits, the lack of confidentiality, anti-choice harassment and violence, and the location of abortion services". As a result of these legal or extra-legal obstacles, public-sector hospitals that perform abortions have steadily dropped since 1977.

Pro-Life Movement of British Columbia

In British Columbia, pro-life advocates have banded together in order to affect access to abortion. In the southeastern region of the province, activists targeted rural hospitals. In order to affect change locally, pro-life activists attempted to fill hospital boards with individuals that espoused pro-life views. This movement and strategy disproportionately affected women who resided in rural areas of British Columbia, and many were forced to travel elsewhere in order to seek abortion services.

Unique Challenges Faced by Indigenous Women

In Canada, 40% of Indigenous people live on reserves, while 60% live off of reserves. Aboriginal reserves in Canada are often situated in rural or isolated areas, resulting in a disproportionate lack of access to abortion services for indigenous women. In order to receive funds to travel from the reserve to abortion facilities, Indigenous women must navigate a bureaucratic system that approves the funds. Otherwise, they must pay for their own travel, which further limits their access to abortion services.

According to a study, women who identified as First Nations or Metis were three times more likely to travel over 100 kilometres in order to access abortion services, in comparison to their white counterparts. These women were also more likely to report having experienced a (logistically) difficult journey than white women.

Implications of Barriers to Access

Due to these barriers to access, women in British Columbia are more likely to have to wait longer to have the procedure or travel further in order to find a facility that provides abortion services. As a result, women in British Columbia are at risk of having second-term abortions, which have more medical complications than first-term abortions. Additionally, women in British Columbia are also at higher risk of carrying unwanted pregnancies to term.

The multiple, intersecting, social locations of women can greatly affect or even determine their access to abortion in British Columbia. Women who are of lower income, younger age, rural areas, or indigenous descent are disproportionately affected by barriers to access to abortion. These barriers to access were created by the dominant, patriarchal power structure, which continues to oppress women who seek abortions.