Access to the abortion pill is still too limited in Quebec, regret two women who were initially refused by doctors to have the abortion of their choice.
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“I was forced to choose an option that was more psychologically damaging to me,” denounces the Beauceronne Jade Arsenault Bérubé, who experienced a voluntary termination of pregnancy (IVG) last September.
Although she was only a few days past the nine-week deadline to receive the abortion pill, two clinics in Lévis and Beauce refused to prescribe it for her.
In Quebec, this nine-week period is mandated by the College of Physicians (CMQ).
In light of the healthcare system delays caused by the pandemic, the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada has issued guidelines that allow professionals to go up to 10 and even 11 weeks to safely prescribe a medical abortion.
After these two refusals, it was finally a Montreal doctor who allowed Ms. Arsenault Bérubé to receive the abortion pill after a telephone consultation just under two days before reaching the 10th week.
But she also had to drive to Quebec to get the drug at a pharmacy; the place closest to her home, in Beauce, but still 60km away.
cold act
The mother-of-two had already had an aspiration abortion as a teenager and refused to experience it again, describing it as a “cold act without love”.
She had even come to terms with giving birth until an ultrasound revealed twins.
At the time, Ms. Arsenault confided that she was not well and that her couple were also struggling and that she felt unable to welcome these children into her life.
“But I was never offered the pill,” she complains, adding that the clinic had a three-week deadline for abortion.
She says she can only assert her rights with the help of the organization Les Passeuses, which offers voluntary support for women who want to have abortions.
“It was as sad as it was perfect,” she continues, of her uncomplicated home abortion.
Categorical rejection
Rimouski resident Andrée-Ann Paradis was categorically refused to receive the abortion pill.
The ultrasound estimated her pregnancy at 10 weeks based on the size of the fetus and her last period.
However, the 31-year-old knew her pregnancy was no older than nine weeks as she had only made love once in the weeks before and after.
“I tried to explain it several times, but it was always no,” she breathes.
On the other hand, she was offered to be accompanied to the clinic to undergo aspiration abortion.
Candy, she said, to make up for being denied the abortion of her choice.
“Because I insisted on the pill and they refused to give me it,” she explains, while other women tell her they’ve never been offered it.
Abortion comes with a “package of reflections, questions and doubts,” stresses Ms. Paradis, who wishes women would be more listened to and supported in the process.
What is the abortion pill?
- Marketed in Canada under the name Mifegymiso and offered since 2017
- Can be taken up to 63 days of pregnancy or less
- As two medications to be taken at home 24 or 48 hours apart
- According to RAMQ data, the abortion pill was prescribed just 670 times in 2020, accounting for 4% of all voluntary abortions.
On June 29, a letter signed by 262 Quebec doctors was sent to the CMQ asking to stop asking for special training and to remove the obligation to do an ultrasound in all cases to prescribe the abortion pill, whereby reminded that these are restrictions unique to Canada.