Closure of Morgentaler Clinic turns abortion into New Brunswick election issue

No savvy Canadian politician willingly wades into the issue of abortion. Polling shows public opinion is pretty solidified on either side and bringing it up never wins votes, only loses them.

Even Prime Minister Stephen Harper has told the socially-conservative members of his caucus his government's won't revisit the issue, for all their attempts to trigger a debate via private member's bills.

So you can understand New Brunswick Liberal Leader Brian Gallant's reluctance, heading into a fall election, to get too specific about how he would change provincial health-care policy that effectively restricts women's access to publicly funded termination of pregnancy.

But the Sept. 22 provincial election campaign may force Gallant's hand after the long-expected closure of the Morgentaler Clinic in Fredericton put the question front and centre.

The clinic, founded in 1994 by the late abortion activist Dr. Henry Morgentaler, accounted for about 60 per cent of abortions performed on New Brunswick women, who had to pay between $700 and $850 for the procedure.

However, the operation was not financially sustainable without government funding. It was slated to close last week but a notice on the clinic's web site said it would remain open until the end of the month. A crowd-sourcing effort has raised more than $100,000 to try and keep the doors from closing.

[ Related: Cdn abortion clinic turns to crowd-funding to keep doors open ]

A 20-year-old law passed by the Frank McKenna government to counter opening of the Morgentaler Clinic effectively did an end-run around the 1989 Supreme Court of Canada decision that outlawed the practice of requiring women to get permission from a committee of doctors before having an abortion.

The regulation in New Brunswick Medical Services Payment Act (under Schedule 2) denies coverage for abortions unless approved by two doctors who agree it's "medically required." It also can be performed only by an obstetrician/gynecologist at a hospital – currently only two, in Moncton and Bathurst.

It's a formidable obstacle, given that a large percentage of New Brunswick women don't have a family doctor and would have to navigate the walk-in clinic system to get help.

New Brunswick is the only province to impose such a limitation and pro-choice groups say it violates the Canada Health Act.

Prince Edward Island's government, claiming no doctors in the province will do abortions, sends women to a hospital in Halifax, as long as they have a referral from their family doctor.

The Morgentaler Clinic provided a kind of relief valve for the New Brunswick government, says Dawn Fowler, Canadian director of the U.S.-based National Abortion Federation. As long as enough women were prepared to pay for access, the issue stayed off the radar.

"I think they found the clinic a convenience without having to provide for the women of their province," Fowler told Yahoo Canada News from Victoria. "Now with the clinic closed they’re going to have to deal with this.”

The New Brunswick government reportedly plans no change in policy in the wake of the clinic's shutdown – no one from the province responded to a request from Yahoo Canada News for comment.

But the Liberals' Gallant signaled his party is ready to do something if it wins the election this fall. Just what that is remains unclear.

A Liberal government would "move swiftly to address this issue in a comprehensive way, once and for all, and ensure we are respecting a woman's right to choose," Gallant said in a statement on the party's web site.

The statement stops short of saying the Liberals would abolish the restrictive regulation, so it appears the promise boils down to conducting a review.

There are suggestions the New Brunswick Liberals may face pressure from their federal counterparts, given Leader Justin Trudeau's clear position that the party and its elected representatives must be pro-choice.

“It’s hard to interfere in an election year,” MP Carolyn Bennett, chair of the Liberal women's caucus, recently told the Globe and Mail. “[But] it seems like there is a pretty easy solution there in terms of just repealing [the law] . . . Obviously, I would prefer that it take place as quickly as possible.”

Neither Bennett, who was travelling, nor Romeo Leblanc, New Brunswick's only Liberal MP, were available to comment Monday.

Gallant's Liberals are probably wise to tread lightly. New Brunswick's population skews somewhat older demographically than the rest of Canada and conservative views are well entrenched.

A January 2013 poll by Angus Reid Global on Canadian attitudes towards abortion found that Atlantic Canadians were the least in favour of unrestricted access to abortion and least willing to have medicare pay for the procedure.

Angus Reid Global vice-president Shachi Kurl said, however, the percentage-point differences between Atlantic Canada and the Canadian average are not hugely significant.

The same poll showed a majority of Atlantic Canadians, though fewer than elsewhere in Canada, wanted the national debate over abortion reopened.

Unreleased results from questions in an Angus Reid Global poll last May provided to Yahoo Canada News show about 55 per cent of Atlantic Canadian respondents want no new national abortion law. However one in five want some restrictions and 12 per cent want abortion outlawed altogether except when the mother's life is in danger.

"That is the highest metric anywhere in the country," Kurl said.

[ Related: Justin Trudeau clarifies abortion stance for Liberal MPs ]

Abortion is tricky for politicians because many people see it as a moral issue.

"Much like the prostitution law that’s being debated in Ottawa right now, these are values issues that really come down to your personal fundamentals as to what you believe," said Kurl.

"It’s very dicey for some politicians when they have to make a political decision to really want to wade into this debate when they are motivated by their political futures, as opposed to motivated by what some would say is access to health care.”

Fowler said while other provinces freely fund abortions, women in rural and remote areas do have problems gaining access because most have to travel to a large city to have the procedure.

But the situation in New Brunswick is particularly egregious, she said. Fowler recognizes the provincial Liberals are walking a fine line politically but she wants a more forceful response. She also hopes Trudeau won't shy from wading into the debate.

“I would like to see him work with the provincial leaders of the Liberal party to make sure they have a clear understanding of what the issues are and the challenges are and the importance of breaking down any type of barrier such as the Medical Services Payment Act and ensure that the province has good comprehensive abortion care," she said.

“Making it a challenge to obtain abortion care doesn’t make the need go away.”