Abstract
Introduction
New Brunswick (NB)'s Regulation 84-20 has historically restricted funded abortion care to procedures deemed medically necessary
by two physicians and performed in a hospital by an obstetrician-gynecologist. However,
on January 1, 2015, the provincial government amended the regulation and abolished
the “two physician rule.”
Objectives
We aimed to document women's experiences obtaining abortion care in NB before and
after the Regulation 84-20 amendment; identify the economic and personal costs associated with obtaining abortion
care; and examine the ways in which geography, age and language-minority status condition
access to care.
Methods
We conducted 33 semistructured telephone interviews with NB residents who had abortions
between 2009 and 2014 (n=27) and after January 1, 2015 (n=6), in English and French. We audiorecorded and transcribed all interviews and conducted
content and thematic analyses using ATLAS.ti software to manage our data.
Results
The cost of travel is significant for NB residents trying to access abortion services.
Women reported significant wait times which impacted the disclosure of their pregnancy
and the gestational age at the time of the abortion. Further, many women reported
that physicians refused to provide referrals for abortion care. Even after the amendment
to 84-20, all participants reported that they were required to have two physicians approve
their procedure.
Conclusions
The funding restrictions for abortion care in NB represent a profound inequity. Amending
Regulation 84-20 was an important step but failed to address the fundamental issue that clinic-based
abortion care is not funded and significant barriers to access persist.
Implications
NB's policies create unnecessary barriers to accessing timely and affordable abortion
care and produce a significant health inequity for women in the province. Further
policy reforms are required to ensure that women are able to get the abortion care
to which they are entitled.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 20, 2017
Accepted:
February 10,
2017
Received in revised form:
February 9,
2017
Received:
February 5,
2017
Footnotes
☆Conflicts of interest: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise.
Identification
Copyright
© 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
