Medicare to cover surgical abortions outside N.B. hospitals

Medicare will now cover the cost of surgical abortions outside of hospitals in New Brunswick.

The newly-elected Liberal government announced it has approved changes to Regulation 84-20 to allow for the change in cost coverage. The Medicare change was one of the many promises the Liberals made on the campaign trail last month.

“Everyone deserves access to the health care they need, and, with this change, we are making it easier for everyone who needs this service to access it, regardless of where they live,” said Health Minister John Dornan in a news release.

The government says the Department of Health will work with regional health authorities and the New Brunswick Medical Society to determine how these services will be implemented.

"This does not change the fact that abortions will not become accessible tomorrow in New Brunswick," Premier Susan Holt said. "There is work to be done with the medical professionals and with the people in this room to make sure that we take this step and we move to get that access into community."

Jeff Gunnarson, president of Campaign Life Coalition, an anti-abortion group, disputes the assertion abortion is health care.

"Health care as it relates to abortion is an oxymoron," he said. "It just doesn't make sense. Abortion is not health care."

The release notes surgical abortions are only available at the Chaleur Regional Hospital in Bathurst, the Moncton Hospital and the Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre in Moncton. Medical abortions account for most abortions in the province.

Clinic 554 in Fredericton, which provided the only procedural abortions outside of hospitals in New Brunswick, closed last February for financial reasons.

"We know what it entails so we can ensure that the measures put in place will be able to support collaborative clinics as well as practitioners to be able to provide services for their clients," said Valerya Edelman, former manager of Clinic 554.

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