Fraser Valley needs same abortion options as Vancouver, says sexual health advocate

Although the B.C. government says it is committed to ensuring there is access to abortion services across the province, a sexual health advocate says access in the Fraser Valley is lacking compared to Vancouver.

“We have three really well-run, supportive, compassionate spaces in Vancouver that are abortion clinics,” said Michelle Fortin with Options for Sexual Health, adding the same access to a surgical abortion needs to be offered further east in the region.

“I think the largest growing municipality in the country should have abortion accessible in publicly funded health-care spaces,” she said, adding some patients seeking an abortion who are in a vulnerable state have to travel to access health care.

“The other thing is if you don’t have a car, you need to tell someone why they’re driving you into Vancouver. So you need to share personal health information with someone.”

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The province says there are 30 locations for surgical abortions. Health Minister Adrian Dix says since broad access to abortion medication started in 2017, there has been a “significant decline” in the number of surgical procedures needed in B.C.

He believes “significant access” to abortion is offered across the Lower Mainland.

“In fact, the issues around access to abortion services and expanding that access is really very much [about] rural and remote regions,” he said. “If you live in Metro Vancouver or the region around here, there’s significant access to those services, whether you live in Fraser Health or Vancouver Coastal Health.”

Dix also notes it’s not uncommon for people to cross into another jurisdiction for health care, pointing to his East Vancouver neighbourhood as an example.

“All the women and men who live in my neighbourhood, when they need emergency services, they almost inevitably go to Burnaby Hospital, which is in Fraser Health. This is a large community. There’s very significant access.”

When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last month, Coquitlam-Maillardville MLA Selina Robinson was part of a joint statement from other members of the B.C. government that called it a “dark day.”

“To deny a woman’s access to a safe abortion is to deny her fundamental health care,” reads the statement in part. It went on to commit to steps towards providing safe and accessible abortion services.

When asked about access in Fraser Health, which includes her riding, she said her constituents can schedule an abortion in their region.

“We know if you’re a person … with an unwanted pregnancy and needing to make what I think is a very difficult choice, having the ability to make that choice and being able to schedule it in a way that meets your needs, that’s really … what’s important,” Robinson said.

“The fact that you can in this region get an appointment and get your needs met, that’s living up to our commitments and making sure that women have the opportunity to make those choices.”

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Meanwhile, when it comes to contraception, Fortin believes that’s another crucial element. She argues it should be free because the cost of some contraceptives can be prohibitive.

“The number of folks that have unintended pregnancies because they couldn’t afford a safer and more effective type of birth control is is an issue. If everyone could get an IUD or an implant because that’s what they chose — a long-acting reversible form of contraception — I think that that would go a long way,” she said.

“The reality is that for, say, an 18-year-old or a 22-year-old, a $350 IUD versus a $13 packet of pills, which one is more accessible for them? It’s not necessarily the one that they would have chosen.”