Women Gain Access to Safe Abortion on Prince Edward Island

Care 2 (Apr. 11, 2016):  Success! Women Will Finally Get Access to Safe Abortions on Prince Edward Island, by Judy Molland:

In contrast to many jurisdictions in the United States, Canada does not criminalize abortion, the Supreme Court having struck down restrictions on abortion in 1988.  Nonetheless, there has been no access to abortion in the province of Prince Edward Island.  Women on the island have had to go elsewhere to obtain pregnancy termination services.  The government has been sued twice in ten years for not providing access on the island. 

After receiving a petition with 18,000 signatures, Premier Wade MacLauchlan capitulated, stating, "We have been advised the probabilities are very low that the province could successfully defend policies that provide a legal, provincially funded medical procedure only if obtained outside of the province."  The policy would probably violate the Canadian Charter's Rights and Freedoms provisions and its security-of-the-person guarantee.