The National Abortion Federation (American Association) Launches Canadian Public Policy and Outreach Program - Canadian Parliamentarians support the initiative
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
CONTACT:
NAF Communications Department
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The National Abortion Federation Launches Canadian Public Policy and
Outreach Program
NAF to provide direct assistance to Canadian women through national
toll-free Hotline (1-800-722-9100)
Today, The National Abortion Federation (NAF), the professional
association of abortion providers in Canada and the United States,
launched our Canadian Public Policy and Outreach Program. NAF's
mission is to ensure safe, legal, and accessible abortion care to
promote health and justice for women. We announced our public policy
goals and how we will work to improve abortion access for women in
Canada. Additionally, NAF will increase direct assistance to Canadian
women through our national toll-free Hotline (1-800-722-9100), a place
women can call to get unbiased, factual information; options
counseling; and referrals to providers of quality care.
Speakers included:
Vicki Saporta, NAF President and CEO (view Vicki Saporta's remarks
below)
Dawn Fowler, NAF Canadian Policy and Outreach Director
Pat Smith MD, NAF Board Chair (view Dr. Pat Smith's remarks below)
Sen. Lucie Pepin
Honorable Dr. Carolyn Bennett, MP
Irene Mathyssen, MP
Penny Priddy, MP
The National Abortion Federation (NAF) is the professional association
of abortion providers in Canada and the United States. Our mission is
to ensure safe, legal, and accessible abortion care to promote health
and justice for women. Our members include health care professionals
at clinics, doctors' offices, and hospitals, who together care for
more than half the women in both countries who choose abortion each
year. For more information, visit our website at www.prochoice.org
Statement of Vicki Saporta, NAF President and CEO
Charles-Lynch Press Conference Room
Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Canada
May 16, 2006
Good morning. I'm delighted to be here today to launch NAF's Canadian
Public Policy and Outreach Program.
As many of you know, NAF is the professional association of abortion
providers in Canada and the United States. Our mission is to ensure
safe, legal, and accessible abortion care to promote health and
justice for women.
Canadian providers have been members of NAF for many years. They
include clinics, doctors' offices, and hospitals who together provide
quality care for more than half the women in both countries who choose
abortion each year.
Our Canadian members have participated in our continuing medical
education, quality assurance, security, and other programs. Now, NAF
is further expanding our outreach and services in Canada to address
members' public policy needs at the federal, provincial, and
territorial levels.
We thank the Members of Parliament and the Senate, Senator Lucie
Pepin, Honorable Dr. Carolyn Bennett, Irene Mathyssen, and Penny
Priddy for joining us today and for their leadership in ensuring
women's reproductive freedom.
Even though there is no law restricting abortion in Canada, access to
abortion care remains a problem for many women. We are concerned that
abortions are not fully funded in all provinces and territories; that
access to funded abortions is unavailable in some areas, that inter-
provincial billing continues to be a problem, and that some provinces
have placed limits on the number of abortions allowed in facilities in
a given year.
For example, in New Brunswick, Dr. Henry Morgentaler is in a legal
battle with the provincial government to have them comply with the
funding requirements of the Canada Health Act. Most people don't
realize that it takes two doctors' approval to get an abortion in the
one hospital in Fredericton that provides them. And we just learned,
moments ago, that the hospital will stop providing abortions at the
end of June. That means that women in New Brunswick will have no
access to funded abortions in violation of the Canada Health Act.
Additionally, right here in Ontario, there are not an adequate number
of abortions funded to meet the need. Therefore some women are
required to wait until the second trimester to get an abortion. This
delay puts women at additional risk.
We plan on working with NAF members, elected officials, and other
Canadian organizations involved with women's reproductive health and
rights to address these issues. We will advocate with the Ministries
of Health, at all levels of government, to correct the long standing
inequities in abortion access and ensure that women are able to
receive the reproductive health care that is guaranteed by the Canada
Health Act. We will work to remove abortion from the list of excluded
services in the inter-provincial reciprocal billing agreement to
ensure that fully funded abortion services are available to Canadian
women in all regions of the country. We want to ensure that abortion
services are adequately funded throughout Canada.
With the assistance of our pro-choice allied organizations and the pro-
choice members of Parliament here today, we will help ensure that
women can access the reproductive health care they need regardless of
where they live or their socio-economic status.
In addition to our public policy work, NAF will increase direct
assistance to Canadian women through our national toll-free Hotline.
Our Hotline (1-800-722-9100) is a place women can call to get
unbiased, factual information; options counseling; and referrals to
providers of quality care if they choose abortion. Our case managers
work with women in difficult situations to ensure that they get the
care they need. Women who call the Hotline can be assured of
confidentiality and that they will only be referred to NAF providers -
providers who offer the highest quality care.
I'd now like to introduce the chair of the NAF Board of Directors, Dr.
Pat Smith. Dr. Smith is a family physician who has provided abortions
in Southern Ontario for many years. She's also been very active in
training medical students and residents in abortion care.
Statement of Pat Smith, MD, Chair of the NAF Board of Directors
Charles-Lynch Press Conference Room
Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Canada
May 16, 2006
Thank you Vicki, for your support and leadership.
I am proud to be the first chair of NAF from Canada. As a physician, I
know the importance of access to quality health care.
One of my concerns is that training in comprehensive reproductive
health care including abortion is not currently offered as part of the
core training in undergraduate medical education or as a part of
required training in all ob/gyn or family practice residency programs.
This limits the ability of physicians to provide comprehensive
reproductive health care to their patients. Medical schools must
provide training opportunities for medical students and residents to
ensure that future generations of Canadian women have access to
quality abortion care.
To address these issues, NAF will reach out to medical schools and
residency programs to offer NAF's educational resources to help ensure
that abortion is included in their curricula. We will also work to
facilitate more training opportunities for medical students and
residents at NAF member facilities.
NAF's expanded activities in Canada will go a long way to help us
ensure that women have access to comprehensive high quality
reproductive health care services.
I'd now like to introduce the Members of Parliament who are with us
today, Honorable Dr. Carolyn Bennett, Irene Mathyssen, and Penny
Priddy.