Abortion and Reproductive Health News

Here's some updates re: reproductive health/abortion, courtesy of ARCC-CDAC, also courtesy, me...

NEW BRUNSWICK ABORTION ACCESS -- As you all know, the New Brunswick government enforces a regulation thatlimits funded abortions to those performed in hospitals by a specialist withthe written approval of two doctors. This regulation violates the Canada Health Act as well as the 1988 Supreme Court Morgentaler decision. The latter tossed Canada's abortion law because it set arbitrary obstacles toaccess that discriminated against women and violated women's "security ofthe person." The NB regulation does exactly the same thing. Dr. HenryMorgentaler is pursuing a lawsuit against the province, and the issue currently before the courts is whether he has "standing," which the NB government is disputing. We believe Dr. M has a great defense on this point, which will be decided in just a few days.

One of the doctors at the Morgentaler clinic in Fredericton is is being subjected to an ongoing campaign of intimidation by anti-choicers in NB, via demonstrations outside the clinic, and letters to her colleagues. We are urging the government to publicly support this doctor and NB abortion services in general, and we also are supporting the National AbortionFederation in its efforts to implement a bubble zone law in New Brunswick to protect the clinic. This avenue looks promising so far.

Heather Mallick was a recent keynote speaker at a popular event in Fredericton at the University of NB on April 11. Heather spoke to anoverflow crowd of 300 supportive people. The event was sponsored and organized by several groups including the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada.

Read Heather's article about New Brunswick here:
"Abortion rights and abortion fights: Court fight over legal payments about to begin" http://www.cbc.ca/news/viewpoint/vp_mallick/20070420.html


HOSPITAL ACCESS IN CANADA -- A sister pro-choice group, Canadians for Choice, issued a report in April called "Reality Check: a close look at accessing abortion services inCanadian hospitals." It found that only 15.9% of Canadian hospitals provideaccessible abortion services, compared to 17.8% in 2003. To put this intoperspective, it's important to note that clinic access has increased overthe years, which explains to some extent the overall decline in hospitalaccess. Clinics actually do about 45% of all abortions in Canada now,compared to less than 7% in 1988. Access is generally good to very good inmajor centres in Canada, but is lacking in rural and remote areas, wherehospital services are most urgently required. Canada remains in a veryenviable situation compared to all other countries in the world in terms ofabortion rights and laws, although somewhat less so in terms of access. Wedefinitely need more hospitals doing abortions, and more providers too. Butto ARCC-CDAC, one of the key findings of the report is the shocking lack ofrespect and the degree of misinformation or lack of information given towomen looking for abortion services.

Links:

The full Canadians for Choice report:
http://www.canadiansforchoice.ca/report.html

ARCC press release: "New report highlights lack of respect for womenaccessing abortion" http://www.arcc-cdac.ca/press/media-release-apr10-07.pdf

"Accessing Choice in Canada" by Pamela Pizarro (interview with reportresearcher)http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2007/04/26/accessing-choice-in-canada


BERTHA WILSON'S LEGACY -- Bertha Wilson passed away on April 28. She was Canada's first female Supreme Court judge. She helped stirke down Canada's restrictive abortion law in the 1988Supreme Court Morgentaler decision, and her concurring decision wasfar-reaching and visionary, going beyond the other justices. She saw women'sright to "liberty" and "freedom of conscience" as encompassing the right tohave an abortion. Recently, Joyce Arthur co-authored an unpublished piece with a law student, part of which argued that the Supreme Court today has a more evolved view of the Charter and would be likely to adopt Wilson's view of abortion rights, rather than fall back on the narrower interpretation of the other justices. If you'd be interested in reading this, please email Joyce at (jharthur@shaw.ca) and she can send this excerpt to you.

Joyce Arthur's favourite quote by Wilson from the Morgentaler decision:

"Liberty in a free and democratic society does not require the state to approve the personal decisions made by its citizens; it does, however, require the state to respect them. A woman's decision to terminate her pregnancy falls within this class of protected decisions. It is one that will have profound psychological, economic, and social consequences for her. It is a decisionthat deeply reflects the way the woman thinks about herself and herrelationship to others and to society at large. It is not just a medica ldecision; it is a profound social and ethical one as well."

Links:

Bertha Wilson, 83: First female Supreme Court justice. Canadian Press, May01, 2007, by Tracey Tyler http://www.thestar.com/News/article/209065

'The great dissenter: The first female judge to ascend to the Supreme Courtdies at 83." The Globe and Mail, Tue 01 May 2007, by Kirk Makin http://osgoode.yorku.ca/media2.nsf/83303ffe5af03ed585256ae6005379c9/06563e796b80e7a8852572ce00694530!OpenDocument


MEXICO LEGALIZES ABORTION -- Abortion was decriminalized in Mexico City (not the whole country) on April24, with a legislative vote of 46-19. Women can now have abortions on request up till 12 weeks of gestation. City hospitals must provide the procedure and private abortion clinics may open. Girls under 18 have to get their parents' consent, but the procedure will be almost free for poor or uninsured city residents. Unfortunately, except in cases of medical emergency, women seeking abortions will have to prove residency in Mexico City.

Outside the city, abortion is allowed only in cases of rape, severe birth defects or if the woman's life is at risk. Also, abortion after 12 weeks is punishableby three to six months in jail. Still, Mexico now has one of the most progressive laws on abortion in Latin America, after only Cuba and Guyana.

The health law was also strengthened to guarantee sexuality education and campaigns on reproductive and sexual rights, the availability of birth control methods, as well as comprehensive and quality abortion services upon request. Up until now, about 800,000 illegal abortions were estimated t otake place every year in Mexico. Well-off women could easily get abortions at private clinics, but poor women had to self-abort or go to unskilled practitioners.

Links:

"Mexico City legalizes abortion; defies church", April 25, Reuters, byCatherine Bremer http://www.boston.com/news/world/latinamerica/articles/2007/04/25/mexico_city_legalizes_abortion_defies_church/

"Mexico City law may push out abortion subculture", May 1 2007, MiamiHerald, by Cecilia Sanchez and Hector Tobar
http://www.miamiherald.com/579/v-print/story/92099.html


PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTION BAN UPHELD IN U.S. -- The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the so-called "Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act"on April 18. This travesty of a decision, made by 5 male, devout Catholic judges, guts over 30 years of case-law precedent on abortion, and criminalizes a particular type of abortion for the first time. Most significantly, the decision says an exception to protect the woman's health is NOT required when passing abortion restrictions (only the woman's life). This means that women's health is subordinate to the fetus' right to live, so in American society today, men are now on top, with fetuses second, andwomen third (tied with children). Anti-abortion groups are ecstatic because this opens the floodgates for more anti-abortion restrictions, as well as signalling the possible overturning of Roe v Wade in the not-too-distant future. The decision itself is paternalistic and ideological, and based on flimsy legal arguments, such as irrationally asserting that the law can only be challenged in court now by an individual woman who suddenly needs the procedure in an emergency. The decision basically lets legislators into the operating room to make the medical decisions, and prevents doctors from making medical decisions in the best interests of their patients.

The lone woman on the court, Ruth Bader-Ginsburg, read aloud from the bench her scathing dissent, joined by Justices Stevens, Souter, and Breyer. It is well-worth reading: http://www.scotusblog.com/movabletype/archives/05-380_All.pdf
Scroll down to page 49 to view.


IRISH GIRLS WINS RIGHT TO TRAVEL FOR ABORTION -- An interesting case that has not gotten much media attention in NorthAmerica is unfolding in Ireland. A 17 year old girl who is a ward of the Health Service Executive (HSE) had a wanted pregnancy with her boyfriend that turned bad. She is now 18 weeks pregnant and her fetus has anencephaly (a brain condition) so it cannot survive after birth. The HSE refused her permission to travel to England for an abortion because she is underage and in care. (Abortion is illegal in Ireland; the country has a constitutional amendment protecting life from conception with "equal regard" to the life of the woman.) The girl, known as Miss D, very bravely went to court and has endured a major 10-day media circus. Today, the Irish high court granted her leave to go to England, under certain conditions.
For details and a complete record of events, see the Safe & Legal campaign site in Ireland: http://safeandlegal.blogspot.com/