A Montreal hospital was forced to call police last month after receiving multiple calls from anti-choice activists, some aggressive, about a woman about to have a late-night abortion.
On February 1, confidential information leaked to social media about a 38-week pregnant woman scheduled for an abortion at Sacred Heart Hospital.
The anti-choice group Campagne Québec-Vie (CQV) also emailed its members, asking them to “pray” this abortion doesn’t happen, President Georges Buscemi confirmed.
Several calls were received at the hospital in the evening. According to our sources, people called to get the patient’s name, others said they wanted to adopt the child. Some were aggressive. Mr Buscemi, he says he is not aware of it.
Abortion is legal in Canada until the end of pregnancy. In Quebec, about twenty women have an abortion each year in the third trimester, which is 23 weeks.
These stories are human dramas. Many reasons lead patients to make this choice (illness, drug addiction, violence, poverty, etc.).
According to our information, on the evening of February 1, the hospital’s security chief even called the Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM). Two officers showed up at the facility, but the SPVM refused to describe the intervention in detail.
call to the hospital…
In an online video, a woman from the CQV group says she called the hospital around 6:30 p.m. and managed to speak to an obstetrics worker, who confirmed the procedure to her.
“She told me that it was indeed sad and that the whole team was also sad about the situation,” says Marie-Josée Rivest. I was sure she would end the call, but to my surprise, she didn’t. »
Ms. Rivest also asked the clerk to suggest that the mother choose adoption rather than abortion.
This testimony raises questions about the confidentiality of medical records. The leadership of the Center for Integrated Health and Social Services (CISSS) of Nord-de-l’Île-de-Montréal refused to say if an internal investigation into the issue is underway.
“It’s a clear breach of confidentiality,” responds Me Patrick Ménard Martin, a health specialist. It is the safety of the patient and the team that is at stake. »
Unbearable
“We cannot tolerate that. The right to an abortion is guaranteed, thunders Dr. Jean Guimond, who is in charge of late-term abortions in Montreal. As simple as that. ”
The medical intervention took place the next day as planned and went according to the norm. Before the pandemic, Quebec sent third-trimester pregnant women to the United States because no doctor in Quebec wanted to perform these abortions.
The service has been offered in Quebec since the US border closed in 2020. In Montreal, some hospitals perform these late-stage abortions on a rotating system. In Quebec, a single hospital manages all cases in the eastern part of the province.
– With Frederique Giguere
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