Abortion is decriminalized in Canada, but an audience in Fredericton recently heard that while there is much to celebrate, there is more work to be done to ensure abortion access.
University of New Brunswick Nursing Professor Martha Paynter launched her new book, Lawless: Abortion Under Complete Decriminalization, in Fredericton on Saturday, Sept. 20 at Gallery on Queen, to a standing room only crowd that included New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt.
The launch consisted of a discussion between the author and University of New Brunswick Sociology professor Tobin LeBlanc Haley, who mentioned she “cut her activist teeth as an escort at the Morgentaler Clinic” in Fredericton.
Paynter’s book comes out in the wake of the Holt government’s decision to remove part of Regulation 84.20 from the Medical Services Payment Act one year ago. The regulation prevented providers from getting reimbursed for surgical abortions outside of hospitals in the province.
In 2014, following the closure of the Morgentaler Clinic, Reproductive Justice New Brunswick and the Regroupement Féministe du Nouveau-Brunswick campaigned to axe the regulation. Clinic 554 opened in the location of the Morgentaler Clinic in 2015, but closed in 2024.
One of the main reasons for Clinic 554’s closure, according to director Dr. Adrian Edgar, was the fact that surgical abortions carried out at the facility were not being reimbursed.
For Paynter, Lawless is for people who want “approachable information” about abortion. Paynter said her “hope with the book is that it is empowering.”
LeBlanc Haley gave a brief overview of Paynter’s book. She stated that abortion was “decriminalized, yes, but not deregulated” in Canada, as shown in Lawless. LeBlanc Haley remarked that the reversal of Roe vs. Wade was a “harbinger of the intensified fascism we’re seeing today.”
The reversal of Roe vs. Wade in the U.S. caused a deluge of questions from the media to Paynter, which gave her the impetus to write the book in the first place. Paynter indicated that her students often “don’t know what to do” when they find themselves in the situation of needing reproductive care.
In one chapter, Paynter discusses what she calls the “Mifepristone revolution.”
New Brunswick was the first province to make Mifepristone available for free. Medical abortion “is the most common outpatient procedure in health care” in Canada. For Paynter, abortion needs to be discussed publicly “for a functioning healthy democracy.”
As a result of the availability of Mifepristone in Canada, there is a “decrease demand for [surgical] abortion.” According to Paynter, “we are in danger of losing our clinical capacity to do clinical abortions.”
For some people, Mifepristone is not a possibility. “What are we going to do to address this?” asked Paynter.
Nurse practitioners can prescribe Mifepristone now, which widens access. Practitioners must know the “norms and cultural access” in different Indigenous communities to approach reproductive care in those settings.
For Paynter, “the priority right now is universal contraception” because “contraception is a part of abortion care.”When asked about who has the responsibility for public education about reproductive care, Paynter suggested any work would be “met with a lot of resistance,” and that the education needs to be done using a “lens that takes into account reconciliation.”
Paynter called for courage in confronting so-called crisis pregnancy centres, also known as abortion clinics.
Paynter drew attention to COVID-19 leading to enhanced abortion access because of the introduction and expansion of telehealth services.
Wait times are long in New Brunswick. “We have these hiccups in our system,” Paynter declared.
Paynter also reminded the people in attendance that folks without a Medicare card such as international students and temporary foreign workers have an even more difficult time accessing health care, not to speak of reproductive care.
When asked about abortion access in prison systems, Paynter said, “we have got to address this in a different way” and advocated for fewer prisons.
The author mentioned the “Draw the Line” demonstration that happened in Fredericton the same day as her launch. For Paynter, the reproductive care movement must align with other struggles such as that of the Palestinians.
Paynter said we must “recognize [fascist threats to democracy] as what they are” and recognize the public health threats that are assaulting young people today through social media. She stressed the need for “strong and compassionate sexual health education.”
Sophie M. Lavoie is a member of the NB Media Co-op’s editorial board.
Disclosure: Tobin LeBlanc Haley is a member of the board of directors of the NB Media Co-op.
