"Getting born just got harder in PEI."
Despite this headline from an anti-abortion group in Prince Edward Island, getting an abortion will be easier but still not easy, starting July 1.
Instead of going all the way to Halifax, PEI residents only have to travel as far as Moncton Hospital … in New Brunswick. The abortion services are covered by the PEI Health Card. A doctor's referral is no longer needed.
"Women will be able to directly access the service without a doctor's referral or medical office signature or going through the preliminary steps that have been required. This new arrangement will provide confidential, timely health care and ensure continuity of service," said PEI Premier Wade MacLauchlan.
As you can note from the map at the top of the page, traveling to Moncton is a lot easier than going to Halifax. Unfortunately, the expense of an abortion will include the fee to cross the Confederation Bridge plus gas, meals, and lodging.
The key difference is not having to be tied to a doctor, allowing the decision to be a private matter for the family. But you still have to travel to another province for the procedure.
The distance is about 2 hours from Charlottetown to Moncton, versus 4½ hours to Halifax. Charlottetown is near the Confederation Bridge, so most of the province would be a considerable distance further, and roads aren't terribly fast in Prince Edward Island.
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New Brunswick also recently updated its abortion policy to not require 2 doctors to approve of the procedure and now allow non-specialists to perform abortions. The only significant restriction is that the procedure has to be done in a hospital.
The moves in Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick are tied to recent elections where Liberals now run each province. The Liberal Party overtook the Progressive Conservatives in New Brunswick and Wade MacLauchlan replaced Robert Ghiz as premier and party leader.
Abortion access in rural areas of both the United States and Canada has been sketchy. Prince Edward Island has a strong passion in not providing the service on the island, even if that means paying for it somewhere else.
Mississippi, Texas, North Carolina, and many of its southern (and not-so-southern) cousins have been fighting hard to restrict abortion services to its residents. Prince Edward Island's position is still pretty ludicrous by urban standards and health care advocates, but the province is trying to make health care easier while those states in the U.S. are going in the opposite direction.
map credit: Google
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