Over the past several weeks, politicians across the country have used the COVID-19 pandemic to advance one of their most extreme and dangerous political goals: blocking people who need an abortion from obtaining one.
While many of these bans have been stopped by the courts, they are still having a devastating impact on families and communities. We hear it in the desperate voices who call us daily seeking care, and we see it in the eyes of those who have driven hours to reach our clinic from somewhere that abortion is now out of reach.
What politicians had already succeeded in turning into an ordeal is now a nightmare for many people seeking abortion care.
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Patients from as far as Houston have traveled to Kansas, Oklahoma, as well as other states, after Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) banned abortion in that state. Another woman called us, frantic after she’d had six appointments canceled by other providers. It was heartbreaking to hear the fear in her voice before I reassured her that we would be open and her appointment was confirmed. In a matter of weeks, visits to our Wichita clinic have increased by 300 to 400 percent as state after state has used the virus as an excuse to push care out of reach.
I wish the politicians pushing these bans could talk to our patients and hear their stories. If they did, they might understand that in their zeal to ban abortion, they are creating a health crisis within a health crisis.
A pregnancy cannot be paused, even in a pandemic, and by restricting or even banning access to care, they are forcing families to put themselves in harm’s way. A global pandemic is the worst possible time to be forcing people to travel hundreds of miles to seek care when they should be staying at home and minimizing their interactions with other people. That is why leading medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, have warned that abortion bans are likely to increase — not decrease — the demand for other health care services and put further strain on our hospital system.
Clearly these bans have nothing to do with women’s health and everything to do with furthering a narrow political agenda. The fact that some states are lifting bans on telemedicine regulations during the pandemic — but excluding abortion providers — is more proof that these politicians are more concerned with pursuing their own ideological crusade than protecting people’s health.
Allowing providers to administer medication abortion through tele-health would be a safe, effective way to preserve access to care while minimizing the need for in-person visits or unnecessary travel. Instead, politicians are determined to force people to jump through needless bureaucratic hoops and travel hundreds of miles to access the care they need.
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Regardless of how someone may feel about abortion, none of us know the circumstances that led a woman to that decision. We are not in her shoes, and we certainly shouldn’t be letting politicians interfere once someone has made that deeply personal decision.
This is why we, along with hundreds of other providers across the country, are committed to continuing to provide abortion access. We know the importance of having compassionate reproductive health care. No one should ever be forced to relinquish control over their own fertility and the outcome of their own pregnancies.
It is time for lawmakers to stop using reproductive rights as a political football and start prioritizing the health and well-being of all of us. By expanding access to care, not restricting it, we can weather this crisis and build a stronger, healthier future for everyone.
Julie A. Burkhart is the founder and CEO of Trust Women Foundation. Trust Women opens clinics that provide abortion care in underserved communities so that all women can make their own decisions about their health care. Follow her on Twitter @julieburkhart.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
