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Motion for more access to reproductive healthcare fails

Renaud introduced the motion on Monday but it was voted down by the government.
Renaud Marie
St. Albert MLA Marie Renaud.

A provincial motion to increase reproductive healthcare access in Alberta failed Monday.

St. Albert MLA Marie Renaud introduced a private member's motion Monday to urge the government to address barriers to access for reproductive health services, including abortion services, in Alberta.

“What we know is that there are three places essentially in Alberta that do much of this, and there's two in Calgary ... and one in Edmonton,” Renaud said.

“It's not just about abortion services, it was about IVF and so many other things that women don’t have access to.”

Renaud noted that the locations are responsible for abortion services along with STD testing, getting medication and getting IUD.

The St. Albert MLA said her motion was about expanding services to rural and remote Albertans who don’t have access to city centres.

“Women who do live in the centres have to take time off work, get childcare, there are travel costs ... and it's just a problem.”

Renaud brought the motion to the floor Monday but UCP members voted it down, with several abstaining from the vote.

The MLA said it was sad to see the government vote against her motion but she wasn’t surprised.

“This is about a medical access to a medical procedure, and we should have equal access no matter where you live in the province,” Renaud said.

The MLA noted that the Supreme Court has recognized a women’s right to terminate a pregnancy and the Canada Health Act says the services have to be public and accessible.

If the motion had passed, the government would have had to look at the barriers women face in the province and examine ways to reduce those barriers.

The former NDP government made the drug Mifegymiso, an abortion drug that requires an ultrasound first as it can only be used in the first 49 days of pregnancy, available to women for free in July 2017.

But Renaud said doctors are reluctant to use the medication in rural areas where physicians have less access to backup plans if something were to go wrong.


Jennifer Henderson

About the Author: Jennifer Henderson

Jennifer Henderson is the editor of the St. Albert Gazette and has been with Great West Media since 2015
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