PEI's anti-choice Liberals - Abortion in PEI

In The Guardian on the 10th, was coverage describing the small march on Province House by a group of anti-choice folks. I was surprised to read that one Liberal MLA was in attendance, and provided his anti-choice opinion to The Guardian - Bush Dumville, MLA for West Royalty-Springvale. I have to wonder beyond Lawrence MacAulay, Sean Casey and now Bush Dumville, how many other anti-choice Liberals hold elected office on PEI and potentially have the power to influence policy as it pertains to women's primary health care, specifically abortion services?

What the heck does it mean to be Liberal on PEI?

A little over a year ago (January, 2012) at the Liberal Biennial Convention in Ottawa Resolution 58 was passed 'Reaffirming Women's Right to Reproductive Health Services'. Very clear support that apparently is lost on some members. And in a province as little as PEI 'a few good men' is all it takes apparently to eliminate women's issues from the landscape entirely.

If you have a Liberal MP or MLA do you know what they stand for? Have you ever asked your MLA/MP if they are pro-choice?

I've learned a valuable lesson at the hands of this particular breed of conservative in red clothing. That I can't vote for people, I have to vote for the party. People can be all manner of things to all manner of people during elections. But at the end of the day, the candidates are only as good as their party's policies. And it seems that the policies of the PEI Liberals leave a lot to be desired.

 

The more I learn about this PEI version of Liberal the more I understand why women have been denied reproductive health care services and denied representation in our provincial government for so long.

Sources for anti-choice references:

Lawrence MacAulay: http://www.arcc-cdac.ca/action/list-antichoice-mps-may-11.html (his voting record shows him voting in favor of abortion restriction related motions/bills)

 

Sean Casey: http://faqmp.ichannel.ca/videos/live-stream-with-sean-casey/ (says he holds an anti-choice belief)

 

Resolution 58: http://convention.liberal.ca/priority-resolutions/58-reaffirming-women%E2%80%99s-right-to-reproductive-health-services/

RU486 Ready Canada - Abortion in PEI

Saw this the other day over Twitter ... Abortion pill now a reality. Australia sits poised to list RU486 as part of their Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, which will make the once very expensive drug, available to all Australian women at a hugely lower price.

Medical abortion.
Safe, effective and ACCESSIBLE.

So I google RU486 and I see that the World Health Organization added RU486 to it's Model List of Essential Medicines, an inventory of 312 drugs that are considered benchmarks in meeting worldwide "priority health care needs". (article, 2006) It is apparently, the preferred choice for medical abortion. Available in Australia, WHO thinks it's important, it must be available in Canada. 

Then I quickly see that it is not approved for use in Canada. (sigh) "RU486 is available in all countries of the European Union except Portugal, Italy and Ireland. It is also available in the United States, China, India, Russia, Australia and South Africa, amoung others." What the frack? What is currently being used in Canada is Methotrexate , not as effective as RU 486.  Why would one version of medical abortion, the less effective version be the only one available?

The discussion of medical abortion is particularly relevant to PEI, since we have the lovely distinction of being the only province in Canada that discriminates against women by denying access to abortion services within the province. Remember that old public service commercial (ran in the Maritimes anyway) showing a man and a kid in a boat, and the man throws some garbage overboard: 'where does the garbage go dad' says the kid, and the dad replies 'away'. Out of sight, out of mind, it becomes someone else's problem. Well, that's the abortion services situation on PEI, held in place by our Premier, Robert Ghiz and our Health Minister, Doug Currie.

Recently we found out that some medical abortions ARE being provided on PEI (Who knew! Not me, but then how would I since it's none of my business what a woman and her physician decide to do about her primary health care. I trust women. And I trust the physicians that advise them). Our Health Minister would like us to believe that access in another province is acceptable and that lumping this primary care service in with other tertiary (or specialty) health care services that need to be accessed outside the province is appropriate. COMPLETE crap. Primary care services belong in community hospitals and the hospitals are already equiped to provide these services. What this policy does is create a class system where the 'haves' have access and the 'have nots' are shit out of luck. Now haves vs havenots is a new dynamic, but when we're talking about women being able to say when and if they will have a child, women being able to control their most basic bodily functions, the ramifications of such a policy, something akin to forced childbirth ... is an evil I just didn't think our country or our 'gentle island' was capable of perpetrating. In any case, on to medical abortion:

CBC.ca/pei 'Health PEI not tracking Medical Abortions'.
CBC Radio, Island Morning Medical Abortion.
The Guardian - Medical abortions available in PEI.

I have to really wonder why RU486 is not available in Canada especially considering our current Prime Minister has said he has no agenda that would see the abortion discussion reopened, in otherwords, he would not see abortion restricted. Certainly not offering what is the preferred drug for medical abortions would be seen as a definite restriction! On top of that he has seen motions put forward by Conservative MPs regarding abortion and met them with clear and concise opposition (Hon. Gordon O'Connor, CPC on M312 - scroll down! It's an epic smack-down, it's worth reading several times in fact). Unless of course his agenda is to just 'leave that discussion entirely alone and neither move back nor forward'. Which may be the case. Like my dog when I find him on the sofa, and he doesn't move, doesn't so much as blink, I assume he's hoping I don't see him and that things can just carry on without any big hassle. No one make any sudden movements and we'll all go about our business as usual. Well, maybe that's not the best analogy, but I'm fresh out of humor about abortion agendas.

Some background. What is Medical Abortion?
Canadians for Choice
Women's Health Matters
What is RU486 - this article is a bit dated I think ... so some facts/info may have changed, but it'll get you started.

Why is RU486 not approved in Canada? "The drug of Choice" appeared in a Halifax publication, 'The Coast' in 2006 and goes into some of the barriers that has prevented the drug from being available to women here.

If Stephen Harper and the Conservatives wanted to really convince Canadians that they don't have an agenda to restrict abortion, why not see RU486 approved in Canada? Why not allow women access to the most effective drug? Why not increase the power and the privacy that resides in the physicians' office: between the physician and their patient? 

Harper's complacency and apparent unwillingness to be proactive on the topic, especially considering the rate at which his Conservative MPs continue to expell all manner of 'let's raise the abortion issue while pretending not to raise the abortion issue because too many citizens are ignorant to our crafty ways and too few reporters investigate our motives' would beg action on his part ... IF that is ... he really did not have an agenda or secretly support an agenda that would see abortion services slowly restricted in Canada. So I say again, why isn't RU486 approved in Canada?

Oh, here is the latest Conservative stinky egg to fall out of the hayloft: 'Equality Motion' - try not to giggle at Woodworth wanting us to believe that he's actually surprised the Abortion Rights Coalition didn't support his motion.

The downside to RU486? Access to a safer, more effective private abortion. You heard me, that's the downside. If that sounds like it doesn't make sense - welcome to the anti-choice position.

Of course ... change could be right around the corner ... we say that on PEI all the time ... we say it with a bit of a chuckle as we are often wrong, but it's good to stay positive. Change could be happening very very quietly, it could be happening right now in fact.  You see, many politicians do want to bring about change, but they need their hands held and they need constant support and they need reassuring and they need everyone to 'maintain low tones' otherwise they git scared and run off. That's why they get paid the big bucks and retire with a juicy pension. Nevermind that women who access services and those who provide services are often put at risk ... politicians need a safe, effective and private way to bring about change ... well ain't that ironic. 'Cause women need a safe, effective and private way to bring about change too ... change in their pregnancy status.

Nothing to do with abortion is every going to be secret, and why should it be.  Canada is a pro-choice country and although we are not without our glitches in the system
-PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND-
we should be ensuring that part of an extensive sexual health education includes knowledge of and access to Plan B (the morning after pill) and RU486 (medical abortion) so that many early unwanted pregnancies can be dealt with safely, effectively and privately.  I read somewhere that as many as 30% of unwanted pregnancies, in countries where RU486 is used, are ended with medical abortion. Between that and Plan B it would seem that surgical abortion would be on the decline even. Isn't THAT a nifty thing. That must scare the pants off the anti-choice crowd, that women would be able to deal with such a high percentage of unwanted pregnancies so privately ... ssssshhhhhhh!

(a booming and sophisticated voice now bellows)

Will Canada be next to approve RU486?

Will the women of Prince Edward Island find medical abortion to be a helpful step in addressing the lack of leadership and integrity amoung their elected officials in bringing abortion access to PEI?

Will decision-makers on PEI recognize the need for a mandatory and comprehensive education program at the highschool level on PEI that teaches our youth about Plan B and Medical Abortion along with all the other fun birth control, sex and sexual health 'stuff'? (I know, that one is hilarious).

Will women on PEI see primary care surgical abortion services finally established in PEI?  Because the hypocrisy of offering medical abortions and not surgical abortions is ridiculous on so many levels.

Like a good old fashioned cliff hanger! I'd love to say that's entertaining but really it's a tad tedious waiting for PEI to move into the current century and for our Premier, Robert Ghiz and our Health Minister Doug Currie to grow a pair of ovaries and bring about the policy change that Island women deserve. To see that women on PEI have access to what is an essential part of their primary health care.  But then, we'll get this done with our without them, and increased access medical abortion, with RU486 would be a good start.

Expanded, Not RESTRICTED Abortion Options - From 'Dammit Janet'
Why the Delay Approving RU486 in Canada? - From 'Gender Focus'


Stay tuned, this discussion is far from over:
A bit of light for abortion on PEI
Way of the Future: Medical abortion, private, safe, cheap

Passing judgement on Medical Services? | Abortion, PEI

I saw this today, it came across the status update on a Facebook Page I follow - I'm not sure who wrote it, but it seems to be a post on a blog called 'Worry about your own Uterus' (an interesting read in and of itself!). It jumped out at me because it's basically hitting the nail on the head as far as the PEI Liberal gov'ts continued campaign to deny access to abortion services on PEI. PEI's Health Minister is currently touring PEI 'educating' Islanders about the changes he's decided to make to our health care system, tweeting daily as he 'realigns healthcare' (see 'useless talking point' in the dictionary) using his new favorite hashtag - #betteraccessbettercare.

I'm just going to copy that comment here ... it sums up our 'situation' here quite well.
________________________________________________________________________

“Abortion seems to be the only medical procedure that people want to deny you based on how you got in that situation.

 Drove drunk, got in an accident and need an organ transplant? No problem.

Messing around with a gun, accidentally shoot yourself in the leg and need surgery? Of course.

Smoke tobacco for most of your life and need treatment for lung cancer? Yep.

Climb a tree, fall out and break your leg? We’ll fix that right up.

Have sex and get pregnant when you don’t want to be? YOU GOT YOURSELF INTO THIS SITUATION AND YOU DESERVE NO MEDICAL HELP OR COMPASSION! THIS IS YOUR FAULT AND YOU WILL DEAL WITH THE CONSEQUENCES!”

_______________________________________________________________________

                                         #betteraccessbettercare   

... cute isn't it. The fine print tells a different story all together. We see it here there and everywhere in Canada with women having to jump through hoops to find access to abortion services. It is a judgement against the reason why someone is accessing the service. Full stop. If there was no judgement of the reasons for access, there would be full access, just like there is for other primary health care services. And for those who think my continued pounding away at this issue and enduring contempt for those who sit on their hands rather than exert their power and influence to bring change, is partisan ...

 

THIS IS NOT PARTISAN - IT'S PERSONAL
 

IT IS TIME FOR CHANGE ON PEI!!!!!!

The Fight for Choice on PEI - Midwifery and Abortion

It is flat out no longer the case that Islanders are uninformed about their rights and the discrimination that they are enduring at the hands of a gov't that refuses to allow women access to choices in their reproductive heatlh. Well, I don't really think it ever was the case, but at least now I believe we have undeniable proof as more and more people speak out on the subject.

Our Health Minister has said recently that they've been consulting some experts as they work to bring PEI's Health Care system into the future. I would ask why he continues to ignore Islanders ... some of whom I would easily attach the title of 'expert'.  Dr. Colleen MacQuarrie UPEI Professor and researcher recently wrote this editorial - see letter here. And here is yet another brilliant example of just how informed Islanders are about the current situation. Clearly Islanders understand the issues, and how to move beyond them. Why our Health Minister continues to ignore the experience, intelligence and insight of Islanders like these, is beyond me.

Written to PEI's Health Minister and copied to other individuals and organizations who have a vested interest in this topic. In full: 

Hon. Minister of Health Doug Currie
PO Box 2000
105 Rochford Street,
4th Floor
Charlottetown, PE
C1A 7N8

Cc:Premier Robert Ghiz, Joyce England (PEI Midwives Assoc.), Jane Ledwell (ACSW), Sarah Roach-Lewis (Women’s Network), Diane Boswell (Reproductive Care Co-ordinator) Dr. Richard Wedge ( Acting CEO Health PEI) 

I wish to begin this letter by clarifying that I am writing to you as an individual. While I have had a long association with BORN Co-operative ( Birth Options Resource Network) the following opinions are my own and are not a representation of that group.

I wish to express my sincere and deep disappointment with the lack of action on the part of the government of PEI to address the lack of services and options for birthing women in PEI. The Government of PEI has expressed a desire to create cost saving measures for PEI while keeping our health care system strong and yet they have failed to take any concrete action to implement a change that would address these issues. Changes that virtually every other province and territory in Canada have successfully adopted.

I strongly believe that PEI should be doing everything in it's power to attract growing families to PEI. Parents are productive members of societies and an economic force. The economic needs of child rearing encourage parents to find and keep employment. The needs of growing families create a period in which families consume goods and services at a prodigious rate. This is known to anyone who has ever taken a business education. This is all at a period where largely family members are young and healthy and draw lightly on the public purse in terms of health care. So it is clear that the maintaining a healthy ratio between ages in our population is important.

There are two ways in which these productive families might arrive in PEI, thru the natural stages of life for our Islanders and through immigration from other parts of Canada and the globe. Imagine a PEI where Health PEI provided an environment that was so attractive to young families that they might choose to come or stay in PEI based on the services PEI offered. I can personally attest that every year BORN received communications from women who chose not to move or return to PEI based on our lack of birthing options. We also have received news of women who chose to leave PEI to birth their children.

Yet the PEI Goverment fails to take any concrete action to implement Midwifery services, in spite of economic studies that prove that Midwifery is cost effective, in spite of a feasibility study that supports the idea with third party research that women and families on PEI want a birthing center. While virtually every other province in Canada has rolled out successful Midwifery programs PEI continues to bemoan our falling birth rate while seemingly failing to see the connection.
Women are very important decision makers in choosing where families reside. Women are very serious about the level of care they receive during pregnancy.

Currently PEI's Health care system is failing women in a number of ways, a lack of commitment to Midwifery is not the only shortcoming of our current system. 

Women are not supported enough in their efforts to become pregnant with PEI reducing the subsidies toward infertility treatments and failing to pay for even one IVF treatment which is fully or partially covered in other provinces. While the cost of IVF is high the province would be more than repaid dollar for dollar in just a few years as families with children contribute to the economy.
Pregnant women and women with gynecological issues must compete for the time of the OB's and doctors that we have. While I have every confidence in the skills and training of these practitioners the current direction of Health PEI to add prenatal care to the roster of our General Practitioners seems to me to be borrowing from Peter to pay Paul as the majority of GPs are already struggling with heavy case loads and we continue to have great difficulty in retaining them.
Women and their families are in no way supported in their choice of birth place or caregiver as PEI only offers one option for births. There are myriad good reasons to keep healthy women and their babies out of hospitals. Control of disease, shorter stays and low cost are all benefits of both Birthing Centers and home births. The bricks and mortar cost of a Birthing Center can be comparatively low as existing health centers, office space or residential housing can all be cheaply converted.

Finally is may surprise you as it did me that the largest group of women seeking abortion services in Canada are women who already have children and feel that they cannot economically or socially support more children. While the thrust of my letter supports increasing our birth rate I do not think forcing low income families to bear unplanned children will benefit anyone in the long run. What your Goverment has perpetuated in failing to provide access to abortion is a situation where the most vulnerable citizens fail to have access to a most basic way of limiting family size. In economic terms alone this a poor use of resources. It is disingenuous to suggest more practitioners need to be hired to provide this service when OB's/Gyns already preform D&C's for other reasons.

It has been oft stated that where there is no solution there is no problem. However in this case there are easy and cost effective solutions.

Implement reciprocal legislation that allows Midwives to work with insurance on PEI, the Canadian Association of Midwives has repeatedly offered to come to PEI to help with this, and yet your current Government claims to lack information on how to implement this (insert joke about god helping those that help themselves here). Create a Birthing Center with both infertility and Midwifery Services offered. Quebec has some great models of Birthing Centers is a variety of settings. These Birthing Centers are so successful there are waiting lists for clients wanting to use them. Imagine an Island where women would choose to move to PEI based on the variety and level of care offered for birthing women. This is a solid long term revenue raising idea that offers a much healthier way of adding to tax bases than selling more alcohol or encouraging gamblers.

Create a climate where practitioners can offer safe, timely and private access to abortion by changing the climate in the Health Care system to accept this practice on PEI by those practitioners willing to do so.

In summation there is a opportunity here to make small changes with huge long term impact for the Island. You can attract young families, welcome young Islanders back to the Island and retain immigrant families with a positive pro-family policy.
 
Sincerely
Susana

Wonderful letter, well written, informed, clear, precise and if you read it entirely you likely read more than our politicians will have read. Although perhaps she'll have caught them on a good day and they'll do more then merely glance.  I am ever the optimist am I not?

We have PEI Premier Robert Ghiz, the premier of the only province in Canada to deny women access to abortion services and ignore women's decade long request for midwifery services who is hysterically enough 'co-chairing a national premiers’ health care working group that will get provinces working together to share innovative ideas and methods to improve health service delivery across the country' and Health Minister Doug Currie who says with one breath 'We can't let our fear of change and comfort in "the way it's always been" hold us back from delivering innovative 21st century health care' and in another breath say 'the status quo is acceptable'.


We can't change the things we don't talk about ... silence is the enemy here ... gov't silence.  Luckily it seems Islanders are no where near done talking.

PEI Health System to transcend politics - April Fools!

Quote of the Day: "The future of the Island's health system has to transcend politics."  From our Health Minister, Doug Currie ... Health Minister of the only province in Canada to deny women access to abortion services as part of their primary health care. 

It's Spring and with Spring hope springs eternal ... or some crap like that. What I know for sure is that the discussion about why women on PEI are being subjected to discrimination and judgement at the hands of our gov't over seeking abortion services is really starting to feel like an eternity. Discriminated against: women in every other province have access. Judged: because hospitals are already equipped to provide services to deal with miscarriage and therefore are equipped to provide services to deal with abortion, the reason not to provide the service - judgement of the service.

So to honor Spring, a time when the rain (at some point) washes away the remnants of winter, flowers start to poke through the cold ground, and we look ahead to our gardens and plans for the summer ... I will make a point of renewing my practise of calling out this gov't on a regular basis on their cowardice, ignorance and obstinance regarding putting in place policy that provides for the safe delivery and safe accessing of abortion services on PEI. Lets face it, the NDP and the Greens can only put out so many press releases. We know where they stand, they stand with women, who are ... suprisingly enough ... ISLANDERS! Crazy, I know. So 'we the people' need to keep the discussion going, as boring as it is, as frustrating as it is ... and that I can do. Of course, this renewed sentiment comes on the heals of a lovely April Fools joke perpetrated by PEI's Health Minister.

This morning I read an interesting opinion piece that ran in The Guardian on April 1st, apparently written by our Health Minister, Doug Currie. Who knows if it was, it appeared afterall, on April Fools Day. In it he goes into great detail to describe his vision of PEI's health care system, the challenges it faces, how it will need to change and adapt, and how it will survive. What it fails to describe is a future that ends the discrimination, the judgement and the ignorance that women endure to control their reproductive system. Not only is there no abortion access but women's groups have been lobbying for midwifery legislation/registration for over a decade. It's as if the health care needs of half of PEI's population don't even compute for this gov't.

Feel free to read the piece if that sort of thing appeals to you: The Future of our Health Care System Interestingly enough it speaks very pointedly about the importance of 'the patient'. I think it meant to speak about a patient with a penis. So when you read it, keep that in mind. Oh, and enjoy the part where he says 'Our [Liberal] premier, Robert Ghiz, is at the forefront of the national health care innovation working group with Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall.' Ain't that a kicker.

Now luckily, every now and then and more frequently as of late, other folks are emerging to share their views on our health care system.  And even better still, they do not hesitate to comment on this gov'ts 'status quo' that directly affects women's health care. The following wonderful (although it's hard to say wonderful about such a topic, but I mean, wonderfully written of course and wonderful that it WAS written) piece was recently submitted to Island newspapers (although I'm not sure if it was printed yet/will be printed). Written by UPEI professor and researcher Dr. Colleen MacQuarrie. In full:

Dear Editor,
Over the past 18 months I have been researching access to abortion in PEI. During that time I have recorded many of the stories of physicians and of the hundreds of women each year who go to great lengths to obtain this simple medical procedure. The procedure now is available only at large personal and public cost. The out of province referral system, where women must travel to Halifax or Fredericton, is more costly than providing this service locally. The out of province referral system also contravenes the Canada Health Act. It also stands in contravention of two UN reports released within the last year on the health of women and government’s responsibility to provide safe, accessible, reproductive health care including abortions.

The good news is that more women are using the cost efficient medical abortion procedure. This procedure avoids the expense of travel to another province for an abortion and reduces costs to the public health care system. If a woman is less than 9 weeks into an unwanted pregnancy her physician can administer medication to halt the growth of the fetus and a few days later take medication to expel the contents of her uterus. Unfortunately, information about how to access this procedure is not well known among women seeking an abortion and it is a time sensitive procedure. Physicians who offer these medical abortions tell me that they want protection from the tyranny of the anti-choice lobby. Doctors want to be transparent about the health services they provide.

In my research, a women’s health clinic, where all forms of women’s reproductive health services are offered under one roof, is the ideal. Such an all-inclusive health clinic provides the best access and protection for both women and their physicians. In such a clinic women and their physicians can create the care women need without the fear and ideology of the anti-choice lobby interfering with health care decisions.

Dr. Colleen MacQuarrie,
Psychology Department, UPEI.

Thank you Dr. MacQuarrie!

Now of course, Minister Currie has said in the past that, how did it go: the status quo is acceptable and abortions are just one of a number of health services that the Island has chosen not to perform in order to save resources. "To me, it’s not about the political discussion, it’s more about another service," he told the Charlottetown Guardian.

Tell me again, 'cause I forget, what resources are you saving? 

Any hospital equipped to provide services to a woman who has had a miscarriage, is equipped to provide services to a woman who is seeking an abortion. So, no problem there.

There are physicians on PEI who have already had training to provide abortion services. So there would be no problem there.

Where is the savings exactly?

What you are basically doing is passing judgement on the service that is being provided. We know it, you know it, we know you know it, you know we know you know it. Let's move on.

My kids are now pre-teens so I'm trying very hard to get all this in order as this will be information they need in the next couple years so ... Minister Currie explain to me again if you would be so kind ... how it is exactly that you have decided that abortion services are 'just one of a number of health services that the Island has chosen not to perform in order to save resources'? How is it exactly that women on PEI do not have access to a health care service that falls under primary health care which as such should be available at all community hospitals? How is it exactly that women do not have access too a service that hospitals are already equipped to perform and for all intensive purposes are performing to address miscarriage?

How is it exactly that our PEI health care system has all but abandoned women seeking abortion services leaving access then only in the hands of those who can find information, those who have a particular relationship with their physician, those who have financial support, those who have the emotional support?

The Health Minister who told women only a year and a half ago that he saw no reason to veer off the current status, the current status quo of having no abortion access was just fine, there was no reason to do things differently, no reason to change policy, no reason to question the way things had been done for some time ... now tells Islanders:
"The future of health care in this province depends on tough decisions made today. We can't let our fear of change and comfort in "the way it's always been" hold us back from delivering innovative 21st century health care - and protecting it - so it's there for generations to come."

April fools indeed.