CN: gendered language

I was 36 and a married mother of two, and I needed to end a pregnancy – which is still a battle in some pockets of the country. Trying to get an abortion left me brimming with feelings of powerlessness, shame and disbelief.

“You need to calm down. You are not dying. You are pregnant and you’re going be fine.”

This was the doctor’s receptionist over the phone from Dartmouth, N.S., with a voice so thick with gravel, I imagined her with a lit cigarette in hand as she attempted to take the bull by the horns.

At a little more than five weeks pregnant and unintentionally so, I was the bull. I had become an angry, desperate animal in my quest to figure out how anyone goes about getting an early stage abortion – discreetly, while juggling the demands of a family and a full-time job – in my adopted province of Nova Scotia.

It turns out that they don’t.

THIS WOMAN I KNOW, her name is Arezoo.  She is a woman in politics and a student’s rights advocate.

Arezoo’s work takes an intersectional approach to understanding the role of young women and girls in grassroots and institutional politics, as well as the relationship between sexual violence, public safety and women’s civic engagement.  Since she became involved in Canadian politics at an early age, she has an intimate understanding of the multiple barriers young women, especially young immigrant women of colour, have to overcome in order to voice their opinions and materialize their ideas into actions within our political system.

CN: cissexism, gendered language

One block away from Parliament Hill, even as Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai won over MPs in the House of Commons on April 12 by crying out for the rights of girls, a cruel and abhorrent scene was playing out on the street.

If you’re in Ottawa, go to 65 Bank St. and see for yourself. Men, and a few elderly women, stand right outside the abortion clinic set up by the late Dr. Henry Morgentaler, all day, every day, and torment those entering.

They wear sandwich boards showing pictures of cut-up bloodied meat and signs saying, “Will you support my right not to be killed in the womb?” next to photos of fetuses. “Holding life sacred,” one sign says.

No, they’re holding sperm sacred, à la Monty Python, and they’re still at it after all these years. B.C., Quebec and Newfoundland have bubble zones around their clinics. They are difficult and legally costly to obtain, and the Morgentaler Clinic in Toronto only got its zone after it was firebombed.

But in Ottawa, there isn’t one.

The demonstrators are omnipresent and creepy, some unwell, and some threatening. A bylaw says they must be on the other side of the street. But they cross the street and stand next to the clinic doors, harassing patients, their companions, and staff.

Not only do the Ottawa police not enforce the sidewalk bylaw, they react angrily when the clinic reports the infraction. They have threatened to charge clinic staff with obstruction or harassment if they continue to call for help, says Shayna Hodson, director of operations

Over the past two weeks, Halifax transgender women have been experiencing intense and persistent harassment from local trans exclusionists. Readers should note that this piece will discuss acts of transphobia and transmisogyny (discrimination targeting trans feminine individuals) in detail. A trans exclusionist, otherwise known as a transgender exclusionary radical feminist (or “TERF”) excludes transgender people—particularly trans women, trans femmes, and non-binary people—from public life. They depict trans women as dangerous men and sexual predators. Visible and vocal trans women are targeted by trans exclusionists with online harassment, physical threats and by exposing their personal information on the internet. Exposing personal information, known as doxxing, can lead to assault and attempts to get trans people fired from their jobs. This violence has become increasingly prevalent in Halifax in the weeks since judge Gregory Lenehan’s sexual assault decision on March 1.

Protests were hastily organized in the wake of Lenehan’s acquittal of taxi driver Bassam Al-Rawi. Trans women were among those to raise concern that the protests were failing to centre Black, Indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC) and queer, trans and two-spirit community members. The trans women speaking out were faced with a barrage of harassment by trans exclusionists. Continuously, trans women were painted as abusive men attempting to invade genuine women’s space. In the days since the protests, local trans women have been threatened with physical assault by fellow Haligonians and targeted with unfounded rape allegations for expressing same gender attraction. These attacks are common tactics of trans exclusionists. Activists and organizers must be proactive in ensuring trans exclusionist violence is prevented and confronted. Events and organizations are not safe for trans women, trans femmes and non-binary people unless explicit safeguards are in place. Allowing for and enabling trans exclusionary violence sends a clear message to trans women: You do not belong.

CN: cissexism

Health PEI announced Tuesday that some new services, including surgical abortions, will be available at Prince County Hospital by the end of the month.

On Tuesday evening, Abortion Access Now PEI, a group that fought for abortion access, and threatened legal action against the province last year, held a meeting to learn more about the plans for the new Women's Wellness Centre.

"That's absolutely wonderful news for us. I think it's been a long time coming," said Ann Wheatley, co-chair of Abortion Access Now PEI.

At the meeting, Kathy Jones, director of public health, women's wellness and children's developmental services with Health PEI, spoke about the plans for the Women's Wellness Centre, and what people can expect in the coming year.

As well as surgical abortions, Health PEI will introduce counseling for pregnancy options as well as birth control counseling by month end.More services will be added over the next year, including prenatal care, menopause care, and coordination of fertility services.Sandy Kowalik, secretary of Abortion Access Now PEI, said she is very happy to hear about the wide variety of services that will be offered."It's just a very thorough thing that they're doing to look at all of women's wellness," said Kowalik.  The services will eventually be offered at the new Women's Health Centre. Until that centre is built, they will be offered in a temporary location in Prince County Hospital.

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I think we could all use some good news! People living in Prince Edward Island will no longer have to leave the island to access abortion services!! The decision to finally provide access in the province was made last year, after much protest, and even a threat of legal action. By the end of this month, access should be avaible on island! 

PEI was the last Canadian province to gain access, and this now means that all 13 provinces and territories have at least one facility providing abortion services. While there certainly is a lot of room to improve how accessible those services actually are to everyone, this is a big step foward.