Janelle Skeard shows why it is necessary to improve abortion access in Newfoundland’s “Bible Belt”.

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Since 1988, all pregnant persons in Canada have (theoretically) had unrestricted access to safe, legal abortions across the country regardless of their socioeconomic status and geographic location.

Except that has not been, and is still not the case.

I know this because I am a trained ethicist who practices on a part-time basis in a mobile abortion clinic in an area commonly referred to as the “Newfoundland Bible Belt”, which is a rural area in the central part of the island of Newfoundland.

Inequality across our country is not a new development. Indigenous persons are far more likely to be incarcerated than their non-Indigenous counterparts. Trans and non-binary persons still face systemic discrimination. And pregnant persons living in rural and remote areas are less able to access abortion care than their urban counterparts.

I often ask myself why are we okay with some people having easy access to abortion but not others? In other words, why don’t we seem to care that many people face significant barriers to accessing a safe, legal, and necessary procedure?

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons. Image Description: A Map of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The province of Newfoundland and Labrador’s population is equally divided between the more populous Avalon peninsula encompassing NL’s capital, St. John’s and its metropolitan area, and, for all intents and purposes, the rest of the province. Being as densely populated as it is, the Avalon boasts an array of services and amenities unavailable elsewhere in NL. It is a frequent requirement for residents to travel to the Avalon to avail of healthcare services and other amenities.

Economically, the unemployment rate is much lower for the St. John’s area/Avalon peninsula (5.8%) compared to other areas of the province (11.9% for the NL West coast), while median income is slightly higher, and the rate of government transfers slightly lower on the Avalon peninsula compared to the central portion of NL.

When a service, such as abortion, is not offered locally, those individuals seeking it face significant barriers. Travel, time off work, and childcare are a few key obstacles. But in an area such as the NL Bible Belt, patients are also required to give further consideration to the explanations they have to give to friends, family, and employers.

In rural areas of NL, a larger centre (for example, Grand Falls-Windsor whose population is around 15,000) services dozens of smaller communities in access to amenities such as grocery stores, garages, and health service provision. It is not uncommon to see at least one acquaintance during a routine trip to the drugstore, emergency department, or the grocery store. This makes the provision of confidential abortion care absolutely essential.

I believe that a large part of why we generally do not care about the barriers facing pregnant individuals in NL is due to the general acceptance that certain services and amenities are simply only available in the province’s urban centre. This is unacceptable. Limitations to healthcare services are one thing, and as anyone who has resided in rural NL knows, it’s an unavoidable fact.

But abortion is unique. There is no judgment towards a person who needs two days off work and additional childcare to travel to St. John’s for a PET scan. Your local congregation, family, employer, and acquaintances would wish you a safe trip and ask about your procedure and results when you return. The level of empathy for an abortion is simply not comparable.

We owe it to the people of NL to stipulate that each region have at least one doctor able to either prescribe the abortion pill, or provide a simple dilation and curettage (or evacuation) procedure. These are rudimentary skills for any obstetrician/gynecologist (of which each region in NL has at least one). But practitioners are bound by social compliance and, in at least some instances, theological ramifications. It is time for the Government of NL to take a hard stance to ensure equity and justice in abortion access to its citizens. Anything less is not only unacceptable, but also an infringement on the rights that justified the decriminalization of abortion in 1988.

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Janelle Skeard is a graduate of the Master of Health Ethics program at Memorial University and is a doctoral candidate in Memorial’s Interdisciplinary PhD program. @jd_florence.