Yukon woman shines light on the cracks in abortion access in the territory

A Yukon pistillate is raising the alarm astir the outgo and trouble of accessing termination medicine successful the territory.

Jane Doe says she had to question an termination done the exigency room, due to the fact that the Opal clinic — the territory's lone dedicated termination services provider — is lone unfastened 1 time a week, for 4 hours. 

Jane Doe is simply a pseudonym. CBC is not disclosing her individuality for idiosyncratic information reasons.

That day, she says, she was near waiting, watching different patients travel and go, until a pistillate doc was connected displacement — adjacent though she hadn't asked to beryllium seen by a pistillate doctor.

At the time, Doe was moving successful a agrarian community. She'd travelled to Whitehorse connected the play seeking a aesculapian termination to extremity a pregnancy. She says the doc advised her to spell to the Opal Clinic. The receptionist and a caregiver had made the aforesaid suggestion.  

"So for the 3rd oregon 4th clip that day, I said, 'I can't spell to the Opal Clinic. I enactment full-time retired of town. This is my lone option,'" she said.

By the clip Doe had received a medicine for the termination pill Mifegymiso, the infirmary pharmacy had closed. She had to get backmost to enactment the adjacent day, truthful she went to a antithetic pharmacy downtown. She says the pharmacist told her the termination pill outgo $300. 

"I broke down," said Doe. "I lone had $250 successful my slope relationship and I inactive needed to bargain nutrient and state to get home."

Experts formed uncertainty connected whether termination pills are free

Cabinet communications said the Yukon authorities offers Mifegymiso to Yukoners astatine nary cost.

But the authorities acknowledges escaped pills are lone disposable done the Whitehorse hospital. 

Justine Fair, a doc who specializes successful women's wellness astatine Whitehorse General, says the walk-in session and immoderate backstage household doctors successful municipality whitethorn take to banal the termination pill astatine their clinic. 

"What that means is that idiosyncratic virtually has to bring immoderate of the pills from the infirmary and store them astatine their clinic. But if they constitute a medicine and archer the diligent to spell to a pharmacy successful town, they're going to beryllium charged," Fair said.

CBC has independently verified the pill costs betwixt $400 and $500 astatine Whitehorse pharmacies astatine the clip of publication.  

Access successful agrarian communities uncertain

The Yukon authorities says "medical abortions [are] disposable to patients astatine each wellness centres crossed the territory."

CBC confirmed 11 retired of 13 agrarian wellness centres don't transportation Mifegymiso. The different 2 did not respond by work time. 

"What the wellness centres usually bash is enactment a referral done to the Opal Clinic," said Fair.

For assemblage members seeking an abortion, accessing the Opal Clinic means taking clip disconnected work, travelling to Whitehorse and uncovering overnight accommodation. Patients whitethorn beryllium capable to get their question covered with a referral from their agrarian wellness centre, but determination are barriers determination arsenic well. 

"In communities of, you know, 400 people, it's hard to support things private," said Fair. 

She added successful tiny towns, wherever everyone knows each other, determination could beryllium stigma, oregon adjacent information concerns.

"It's not conscionable missing clip from work, oregon having to find childcare," said Fair. "It's also, immoderate radical person struggled to get to Opal due to the fact that different radical person tried to forestall them from coming."

Sigourny Whipple-Grantham is simply a task co-ordinator for the Yukon Status of Women Council. The enactment supports a fig of antithetic projects to amended sex equity successful the territory. Most recently, Whipple-Grantham has been moving connected a reproductive justness probe project. She says she's heard anecdotally that termination pills are not ever disposable astatine section wellness centres. 

"There's intelligibly a mismatch betwixt what radical are really capable to entree versus what's being stated by the authorities connected their website."

Knowledge spread for physicians and patients

Lindsay Campbell, a doc who works astatine Watson Lake Community Hospital, says 1 obstruction to entree is impermanent doctors, known arsenic locums, who mightiness not cognize the process.

"Sometimes what happens is they conscionable notation to maine alternatively to instrumentality attraction of things, truthful that whitethorn hold things by a week," said Campbell.

According to the Yukon government's website, aesculapian abortions utilizing Mifegymiso tin lone beryllium done up to 9 weeks. Campbell says the further on successful the pregnancy, the much accidental of imaginable risks to the patient.

The Yukon authorities says abortions are covered nether the territory's aesculapian travel. 

For example, if a doc diagnosed a diligent arsenic being implicit 9 weeks and needing a surgical abortion, assemblage infirmary doctors tin marque an assignment for the diligent astatine Whitehorse General Hospital. The doc would past taxable a petition for aesculapian question done the hospital's reception services, thereby covering the outgo of question for the patient, portion retaining doctor-patient confidentiality.

But Campbell acknowledges this isn't ever however it goes. 

"If [patients] conscionable spell to Opal Clinic connected their own, past they would person to get the signifier signed by the doc astatine Opal, and past use for backing afterwards."

Campbell says that upfront outgo of question could beryllium a obstruction for immoderate patients. 

Whipple-Grantham says different obstruction is radical simply not knowing the Opal Clinic exists. 

"A batch of radical we've chatted with astir the enactment we're doing person said, 'Oh, wow. I didn't adjacent cognize we had a session that provided abortions successful the Yukon'," Whipple-Grantham said.

Personal beliefs inactive an contented successful termination care

Campbell besides acknowledges immoderate doctors whitethorn not consciousness comfy providing Mifegymiso. 

"Some radical conscionable don't privation to needfully beryllium involved, but they conscionable person to bash their due referral,"  says Campbell. She says she's not alert of a clip erstwhile a doc astatine Watson Lake Community Hospital has refused attraction to a patient.

Doe, connected the different hand, says during an enactment with a antithetic doctor, she was asked if she had had immoderate abortions successful the past. She says she was besides asked who the "father" was and if she had consulted with him astir the determination to terminate the pregnancy. 

"I was conscionable stunned by this question, because, it's an embryo. This person's not a father." says Doe. 

Fair says doctors often notation patients seeking abortions to the Opal clinic. 

"I deliberation the world was ever physician-dependent, meaning whichever physicians were moving there, and if they were comfortable."

Telemedicine a imaginable solution to entree barriers

In B.C., Mifegymiso is disposable astatine each hospitals, wellness centres and clinics. The pill is besides disposable for escaped astatine each pharmacies. Pharmacists are capable to dispense Mifegymiso to their patients astatine nary cost. 

B.C. besides has what's called "no interaction abortions" wherever you tin get a medicine from a doc oregon pharmacist implicit the telephone who volition past message you the termination pill. In B.C., doctors and nurses are disposable by telephone 24/7.

The Yukon Status of Women Council, successful collaboration with the Opal Clinic and Yukon Strategy for Patient Oriented Research (YSPOR), portion of Yukon University, is researching however to little barriers to termination entree crossed the territory.

The organizations are conducting a feasibility survey connected mailing pills either to wellness centres to beryllium picked up by patients, oregon straight to patients, successful agrarian communities. This would necessitate a telephone consultation with the patient. 

The Yukon authorities says determination are barriers to telemedicine. The Department of Health says it has limitations for providing distant consultations for abortions, successful order to guarantee the information of patients.

The territorial authorities points to a deficiency of doc entree and exigency attraction for agrarian assemblage members. 

Health Canada says truthful agelong arsenic large radical way their cycles and tin corroborate they are little than 9 weeks into their pregnancy, they are eligible for a aesculapian abortion.

Doe says amended entree can't travel soon enough.

"I'm a loudmouth. Like I don't backmost down easy, but for women who don't person that capacity, successful the existent strategy they could beryllium trapped successful a gestation that they don't privation to beryllium in," Doe said.