Proudly pro-choice: NB Media Co-op reflects on a decade of covering the reproductive justice movement

Dear members and supporters,

Membership month is almost over and we want to send one final reminder to ask you to join us if you haven’t. You can sign up here.

On Saturday, March 27, members of the NB Media Co-op, Reproductive Justice NB and Clinic 554’s Dr. Adrian Edgar recorded a TV show about abortion access in the province. Stay tuned!

The NB Media Co-op has published more than 100 stories related to abortion access in the province.

Our stories include not only news on the latest government action or inaction on abortion access but also testimonies by people who have had abortions in New Brunswick.

Our stories, some of our most popular, have included:

News of the death of reproductive health hero Dr. Henry Morgentaler, and news of the closure of the Morgentaler Clinic in Fredericton and subsequent opening of Clinic 554 in its place.

Who plays the part of hero and villain in news stories is crucial in a time when abortion service providers have been attacked and killed for providing health care. We remember Dr. George Tiller.

When the Morgentaler Clinic closed in 2014, seasoned abortion access advocates such as Judy Burwell and Simone Leibovitch were there to help a group of folks establish the organization, Reproductive Justice NB. Upon news of the closure of the clinic, the Fredericton Youth Feminists, based at the Fredericton area high schools, organized the largest rally for abortion access ever seen at the New Brunswick Legislature.

Different generations of feminists came together to raise more than $100,000 to return abortion services to Fredericton. Clinic 554 opened, not as an abortion clinic, as the previous Morgentaler Clinic had been, but as a family practice of Dr. Adrian Edgar.

Clinic 554 provides not only abortion services as well as trans health care but also other health care that is inadequately funded that serves many populations that have been made vulnerable in our society.

The NB Media Co-op has covered this reproductive justice movement in New Brunswick quite extensively.

We have covered the Gallant government’s changes to legislation that removed some barriers to abortion access but not all.

We have reported on Fredericton taxpayers subsidizing what many call a “fake clinic.” Such clinics provide false information about abortion and hope to delay or intimidate people from accessing an abortion.

We have covered the politicians in New Brunswick who proved that candidates can support abortion access and win elections – such as Fredericton MLA David Coon and Sackville MLA Megan Mitton.

We have covered the current Higgs government’s refusal to strike archaic legislation that was only brought in to stop Dr. Morgentaler from providing abortion services in Fredericton. And, we have covered the lawsuit against the province for maintaining unlawful restrictions on abortion access.

In New Brunswick, abortions are only funded by the provincial government at three locations: two hospitals in Moncton and one hospital in Bathurst. So to be clear, a person cannot access a Medicare-funded abortion in Charlotte County or Restigouche County or anywhere else outside of Moncton or Bathurst.

We have also published thoughtful commentary by legal experts who say that New Brunswick’s restrictions on abortion access violate the Canada Health Act. Last September, we published a letter by University of New Brunswick law professors who spoke out against the removal of a peaceful protest for the province to fund abortion services at Clinic 554.

Several of our stories have been referenced by scholars trying to make sense of abortion politics in Canada and the U.S.

Recently, the Trudeau government announced it was reducing the Canada Health Transfer to New Brunswick by about $140,000 because the province has failed in its obligation to fund out-of-hospital abortions such as those performed at Clinic 554 in Fredericton.

Coronavirus has made more visible structural violence, including inadequate health care. Abortion access is only one of many health care needs that require action, adequate public funding and delivery, and an inclusive and anti-oppressive approach.

Here’s to another 12 years of covering the movement for reproductive justice.

Thank you for reading,

Tracy Glynn
NB Media Co-op editorial board