Tara Jeffrey
When it comes to accessing abortion services, women in Sarnia-Lambton have little to no information about where to turn.
So says Mallory Daley, a trained abortion doula who wants to remove the barriers women face when choosing to terminate a pregnancy.
"The lack of information available publicly is a real concern," said Daley. “There’s really a lot of gatekeeping by not having this information available to folks.
“It’s a medical procedure. It’s just about helping people find the medical services they need.”
Daley returned to Sarnia recently after living in Ottawa where she and a group of volunteers formed the Abortion Doula Collective. It provides emotional and physical support for women going through the process — from helping find referrals to transportation.
“My hope is to be able to bring some of that work here,” said Daley. “I feel like people really need help figuring out where to go.”
Abortion in Canada is a safe, legal and funded service that’s offered medically and surgically.
A medical abortion involves Mifegymiso, a pill that terminates a pregnancy up to nine weeks. Canada was one of the last developed countries to approve the pill, which became available in 2017 and is listed among World Health Organization’s essential medications.
“Any family doctor can prescribe the abortion pill and there’s no reason they’re not allowed to,” said Daley, noting a recent Globe and Mail article that found significant gaps in access, from doctors refusing to prescribe to pharmacies that won’t stock it.
“It was hailed as something that was going to increase access, especially for rural women who were often travelling, but doctors haven’t really been willing to prescribe it. So that’s just been an additional barrier,” she said.
Despite rumours to the contrary, surgical abortion is available in Sarnia, up to 12 weeks, said Lambton Public Health family health supervisor Rhonda Galler.
"If someone contacts Lambton Public Health, they're booked to come in for an appointment to discuss pregnancy options," she said, noting women beyond the 12-week mark must travel to London or Toronto.
"You have to go through a counselling process. We want to make sure that the girl is making an informed decision."
Galler would not confirm whether the procedure is performed at Bluewater Health.
"I'm not going to give you the information as to who provides or performs the abortions, or when and where, or anything like that," she said. "There's been incidents that have happened in the past that have put these people and their well-being in danger.
"So we keep that fairly close," she continued. "But [abortions] are definitely available and the person who needs to know will be referred in a timely manner.”
Bluewater Health declined an interview, but spokesperson Julie Oosterman confirmed the hospital "provides this treatment for those patients who choose or require it.”
Neither Lambton Public Health nor Bluewater Health provide abortion referral or support information on their websites.
"So how do you know where to go?" asked Daley. "If you’re pregnant and you don’t want the pregnancy and you’re searching for services, to get the runaround — it's just very concerning because you’re already in a vulnerable place.”
She noted women aren’t always comfortable asking a family doctor for referral.
An undisclosed location in Point Edward provides surgical abortions up to 14 weeks, according to an abortion referral app called Choice Connect, which features detailed referral information for more than 120 abortion providers and clinics in Canada.
Location and office hours are not listed, and patients are asked to call the Action Canada Access Line.
“I understand why providers don’t want to be listed. It makes sense that they would want those details protected, especially in a smaller town or a town where people have really conservative views, why it could be dangerous for them,” Daley said.
“But at the same time, just not having a clear place for someone to go … it’s just a really huge hurdle.”
Daley said an Internet search for abortion services in Sarnia will likely direct users to London or a Pregnancy Crisis Support Centre, which does not provide abortion referrals.
"So women are being led down a path that's not actually going to present or respect all their choices,” she said.
A 2016 study by the Abortion Coalition of Canada noted that Pregnancy Crisis Centres, like Sarnia's, are mostly unregulated, Christian ministries, promoting misinformation, including the existence of 'post abortion syndrome,' which is not a medically recognized condition.
Executive director Jenn Bennett told The Journal the local crisis centre is a not-for-profit community resource that helps women with unexpected pregnancies get accurate information about all options: abortion, adoption and parenting.
“We ensure that each client is aware that our centre does not provide or assist in arranging for abortions. We respect a woman’s right to make her own decision to pursue an
abortion and will not mislead or obstruct this decision,” she said.
The information is medically accurate and “has been reviewed by 45 health-care professionals,” she added.
But Daley said the current, complex system makes obtaining an abortion a potentially lonely and isolating experience.
“I think it has the potential to deny someone a service that they have every right to, just by the sheer fact of being so complicated,” she said.