Deputy Premier Chrystia Freeland visits Clinic 554 in Fredericton – New Brunswick

Deputy Premier Chrystia Freeland visited Clinic 554 in Fredericton as part of a two-stop tour of the province with MP Jenica Atwin.

Freeland met with the clinic staff and discussed the services they provide. They also spoke about the difficulties the clinic is having with some of its essential services.

Clinic 554 provides a variety of health care services to the LGBTQ2 community, including out-of-hospital abortions. The clinic hit a tipping point a few years ago and has scaled back its services.

Eventually, its medical director, Dr. Adrain Edgar, put the clinic up for sale after the Higgs government refused to provide out-of-hospital abortions, claiming that access to abortion in New Brunswick was adequate. The rule is 84-20. It limits funding for abortions performed outside of designated hospitals, which are in Bathurst and Moncton.

By not providing out-of-hospital abortions, the Higgs government is violating the Canada Health Act, according to the federal government.

The federal government cut health transfers to try to force the government to fund the clinic, but nothing has changed. New Brunswick lost about $ 140,000 as the federal government said the province had breached its obligation to fund out-of-hospital abortions.

Freeland did not announce any new funding for Clinic 554 or access to abortion in New Brunswick during his visit on Friday. Instead, she referred to the money previously set in the budget.

Despite this, Edgar said he left the meeting with a sense of optimism.

“The Canada Health Act sort of says that every province should provide the same standard of health care, and New Brunswick is lagging behind,” he said following the meeting.

Federal government remains clear

Freeland said the federal government was clear.

“Recovery is important,” she told reporters on Friday. “We mean what we say when it comes to this.”

In 2019, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged to ensure that out-of-hospital abortions were funded in New Brunswick, and that has yet to happen.

Freeland said she remains steadfast in her talks with the Higgs government.

“Every Canadian has the same rights to access essential health and sexual and reproductive services, including abortions,” she said. “We all have the right to access these services.

“Our government is very clear on this. We are very clear on the right of women to choose.

Provincial government faces constitutional challenge

However, the federal government is not the only organization that Higgs has to contend with.

Canadian Civil Liberties Associationfiled a complaint against the province of New Brunswick, challenging restricted access to abortion in the province.

The Chief Justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench, Tracey DeWare, has granted the Canadian Civil Liberties Association the public interest request to launch its constitutional challenge. The group argues that the law limits access to abortion, especially for poor and marginalized people.

The New Brunswick government is subsidizing abortions at two hospitals in Moncton and one in Bathurst, but it will not cover the cost of the procedure at Clinic 554 in Fredericton.

The rule prevents many people in New Brunswick from accessing essential health care, either by forcing them to go to one of the three approved hospitals for an abortion or by paying out of pocket at the Edgars clinic in Fredericton. , according to the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. .

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