A big win for women’s rights in PEI as the government announced they would be providing abortion services, according to the Abortion Rights Network of PEI.
Spokesperson Josie Baker says they are very excited especially about the government’s choice to create a clinic within the public hospital system that would offer a range of reproductive services, not just abortion.
Baker says they will be monitoring the progress following the decision.
“The Premier has promised that this clinic will be in place before the end of 2016, so we will be monitoring that that is taking place, and that the services that were promised are available,” says Baker.
She says even though women from PEI could access abortions in Moncton and Halifax, this is a tremendous win.
“It makes an incredible difference to have abortion access in Prince Edward Island in our public healthcare system without having to leave for no real reason other than political ones,” says Baker.
#PEI #celebrate #humanright #riseup it ends today. 28 years to correct an anti-choice wrong #localaccesstoabortion pic.twitter.com/YgHg3TPgPr
— AbortionAccessNOWPEI (@AAN_PEI) March 31, 2016
Meanwhile, the Campaign Life Coalition says it is a very sad day now that abortions are available in PEI.
“This falls in line with fed gov’s goal to expand killing human life from coast to coast” https://t.co/PMwiEqsEP8 https://t.co/zthisma0fP
— CampgnLifeCoalition (@CampaignLife) March 31, 2016
National Organizer Mary Ellen Douglas claims the lobbying to allow abortion in PEI has been a national effort and is not reflective of the true opinion of Islanders.
“People from as far away as BC have been interfering politically there to make sure that there isn’t any place in Canada where there isn’t the amount of killing of unborn children that other provinces have,” says Douglas.
She says PEI had a better policy than the rest of the country when they were sending people to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia for abortions.
Douglas says they would prefer to help pregnant women, rather than offer them the death of their baby.
“Abortion is such a terrible blight on our country,” says Douglas. “We’ve killed 4 million babies in Canada since 1969, and those who are lobbying and pushing for this can’t seem to get enough.”
She says the 1988 Supreme Court decision did not give women the right to an abortion.
“It struck down the abortion law, but it never gave a right to abortion,” says Douglas. “In fact it told Parliament they had a duty to protect the unborn child as well, and that’s never happened but people have the sense of “I have a right to this.””
Yesterday PEI Premier Wade MacLauchlan announced abortions would be available and accessible within the province.
PEI is the last province in Canada to allow access.
