Women in New Brunswick are facing fewer restrictions when choosing to have an abortion, thanks to changes to regulations that went into effect on Jan. 1.
New Brunswick women are now able to access abortion without the requirement of two doctors saying it's medically necessary and a specialist is no longer required.
However, some women’s rights advocates, like Amély Friolet-O'Neil, say it is only the first step.
“If you are a woman residing in Edmunston, you still have to drive 4.5 hours in order to get to Moncton for that initial consultation with the clinic, or 3.5 hours to get to Bathurst to have that consultation too. So, are we really talking about real accessibility? No,” says Friolet-O'Neil.
Political scientist Mario Levesque says, with the specific language used, there is some ambiguity and it could create more questions than answers.
“The challenge is this though, is that the section that they are actually putting in its place allows for some discretion within the jurisdictions as to how much the service is actually expanded,” says Levesque.
Both the English and French health authorities in the province plan to release more specifics later this week.
“It won't be for a little while longer, until the full regulations are out, that we will know further details about this, so it remains to be seen,” says Levesque.
Friolet-O'Neil says she will continue to fight for abortion access.
“We'll be very vigilant in the next weeks and months as we have in the past years,” says Friolet-O'Neil.
The Gallant government has said increased access will cost roughly $600,000 annually, but they don’t expect a dramatic increase in the number of procedures.
With files from CTV Atlantic's David Bell
