HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, August 31, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) — Nova Scotia’s Liberal government has asked an abortionist for recommendations on how to improve after a media report alleged the province has the worst abortion access in Canada.
Pro-life advocates say the whole situation reeks of bias.
Dr. Lianne Yoshida told Canadian Press last week that provincial health officials asked her for proposals on streamlining the abortion process.
Yoshida is medical director of the abortion unit at Queen Elizabeth II Hospital in Halifax.
She’s so invested in abortion that she was on hand in January in PEI to “conduct the first procedures” after the Island made abortion available on the Island, reported Macleans.
She also trained Island medical personnel how to do abortions.
Provincial health officials asked Yoshida for advice after Canadian Press reporter Brett Bundale’s August 14 article claimed Nova Scotia women face long wait times for abortion.
Picked up by numerous media outlets, the article said Nova Scotia is the sole province to require a doctor’s referral for women seeking abortions, and that it requires an ultrasound to ascertain the age of the child in the womb before the child is killed.
All this can delay an abortion, Bundale wrote.
He also noted Nova Scotia doesn’t pay for the abortion pill, which costs from $300 to $450.
Since the two-drug combination became available in January, New Brunswick, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, and Manitoba have announced they will provide it for free.
Nova Scotia Health Minister Randy Delorey told Bundale in a statement he had no idea.
“This is the first time I’m aware this issue has been brought to this government’s attention,” he said. “We understand practices have evolved over time and Nova Scotia is out of step with other provinces.”
Delorey said he asked the department and Nova Scotia Health Authority to “look into the concerns these women have raised and report back on how to improve access and process.”
Enter abortionist Yoshida.
She told Bundale on August 23 that, among other things, she’s recommending the doctor referral be waived, and ultrasound and blood work be done the same day as the abortion.
She also has ambitions to incorporate the abortion pill into the abortion unit’s practice.
But the government should give Yoshida’s proposals little weight, says pro-life lawyer Geoff Cauchi.
“She’s an activist. She’s clearly shown she thinks abortion is the best solution and therefore she’s biased,” he told LifeSiteNews.
“Somebody shouldn’t be asked to consult where she has a financial and ideological vested interest in the outcome,” added Cauchi. “There’s a built-in conflict of interest. There’s an inherent bias.”
Johanne Brownrigg, Ottawa lobbyist for Campaign Life Coalition, agreed.
“The women of Nova Scotia need to ask themselves if this betrays a bias in their government,” she told LifeSiteNews.
“Will this abortionist’s advice keep women’s health first and foremost, or will this abortionist simply keep abortion first and foremost in her consultation report?”
Moreover, Bundale admitted in his August 14 report that Nova Scotia “does not appear to keep statistics on how long it takes women to obtain an abortion after a referral.”
So it's “simply a lie” to claim the province has Canada’s worst “abortion access wait times,” Brownrigg said. “We don’t know.”
“Activists and the media appear to be working hand in glove to increase abortion access and funding,” she added.
It’s a strategy that “gets its energy” from “the most radical abortion activist of all,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“Who advocates for the regular woman?” Brownrigg said. “Who advocates for the protection of her health along with that of her unborn child? Only the pro-life movement.”
LifeSiteNews contacted Yoshida and the Nova Scotia Health Authority to ask if anyone else had been consulted but did not hear back by deadline.
Brian Taylor, interim spokesman for the ministry, reiterated in an email to LifeSiteNews that department and Health Authority staff are “gathering information on how to improve access and process,” but did not elaborate further.
But Delorey “said he would examine any recommendations that come forward,” Bundale reported last week.
Nova Scotia’s Liberal Premier Stephen McNeil identified as pro-life in 1999 but is now pro-abortion.
Those wishing to write Delorey asking him to protect mothers and unborn children to the fullest extent of his authority can send letters here:
Health Minister Randy Delorey
Department of Health and Wellness
Barrington Tower
1894 Barrington Street
P.O. Box 488
Halifax, Nova Scotia
B3J 2R8
[email protected]
Constituency Office:
155 Main Street, Suite 202
Antigonish, Nova Scotia
B2G 2B6
[email protected]