It is a positive step forward for Squamish women that there is now a clinic providing abortion and birth control services here.
This is not an effort to debate the morality or ethics of abortion.
Approximately 100,000 abortions were performed in Canada in 2015, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).
The fact is, abortion is legal in Canada and according to an Ipsos poll done in March, 77 per cent of us think it should be.
What this is about is the right for Squamish women to access the same standard of care when it comes to their reproductive health as women in Vancouver. Full stop.
It makes Squamish a more fair and equitable place that this clinic has finally opened. No matter your social or economic status in Squamish, you get the same care.
And why shouldn’t you?
Previously, women who needed this care had to travel to the city. If you were lower income or didn’t drive or have a vehicle, you had to sit on a bus to the city and back. Or you had to depend on someone else to get you there, thus sacrificing your autonomy and privacy.
Like our counterparts in Vancouver, Squamish residents pay taxes to the federal and provincial governments that then go into our healthcare services.
We are also paying pretty close to the same prices for our housing as in the city.
We deserve to be able to access the same medical care.
When abortion services aren’t available, they still happen, it is just less safe for the woman, according to numerous studies.
It is fairer and frankly safer for women in Squamish now that the clinic is open here.
While previously women may have had to wait weeks for an abortion in the city, a doctor will likely be available within 24 to 48 hours through the clinic, depending on the situation.
This means there is less a chance the woman who has decided she needs an abortion will take matters into her own hands and risk severe complications.
And the doctors live and work in the corridor — close to their patients.
The clinic also offers women who seek an abortion all-in-one-care, with the option of free birth control to prevent a repeat situation in the future.
To contact the Alpenglow Women’s Clinic, email [email protected] or call 604-812-2127.
For more information go to alpenglowclinic.com.
