A perfectly unfair letter, from one Sandra Sharpe, the President of the Island Party, who fails to acknowledge any complexity in the abortion debate at all and repeats some falsehoods while she is at it. (There is no obligation for any physician to refer for abortion.) It’s not that she comes across as a myopic political hack in this letter, it’s that she does so with a wanton spite, pushing out all the old tropes about pro-lifers. (“They don’t care about poverty! Or women!”) I understand pro-lifers and pro-choicers have the obvious differences, but truly, some dialogue is possible. Not with people like this, though.
What is the difference between pro-life advocates and pro-choice advocates? Pro-lifers wish to impose their beliefs on all of society, while pro-choice advocates are exactly that – pro-choice which includes having children. If those advocating for the abolition of abortion spend half as much time working for and supporting the millions of impoverished children already living, the world would be a better place.
by 
Here’s my beef with this…
PEI is a small place, with a small population. How many doctors in PEI would be willing to perform abortions? Methinks that if there were willing doctors, abortion would be available there.
Really, does it never occur to pro-choicers that the choice to abort (safely) means that a doctor has to pull mangled body pieces out of a woman’s nether parts? That’s GOT to be traumatic for a physician. If we’re going to respect choices here, we really ought to respect the choice of doctors in PEI not to perform abortions.
totally agree Melissa. if this woman was truly for choice wouldnt she also be respecting the doctors choice whether or not to kill babies?
its hilarious how pro choicers try to make themselves sound good by saying they only want what is best for woman but yet when an abortion rate is low (like in PEI) they automatically think thats bad?
perhaps theres just less unintended pregnancies? less unprotected sex? higher adoption rates? none of these options are bad things. but of course when they abortion rate drops the pro “choice” groups believe theres a problem..
doesnt sound very pro CHOICE to me. sounds pro ABORTION
Before I got into medical school, I heard pro-life medical students discuss the fact that referrals are NOT mandatory, so I assumed that it was openly disclosed, even if unappreciated by the majority of the profession.
Turns out, not so much. When I arrived in my obstetrics unit in medical school, I found out that such a policy is virtually unheard of and, at best, left misrepresented. I was told point blank by three separate physicians teaching the ethics sessions that referrals are required, so it is no surprise to me there are people touting this line outside of the medical world.
There is open acknowledgement that physicians do not have to perform abortion, but the wording is such that pro-life and pro-choice individuals could both make their case for referrals. So myself and a number of other students set out to find written policy affirming this stance and (in the nick of time) found the following article:
http://www.cmaj.ca/content/176/9/1310.1.full
While graciously (I hope), broaching the subject, and reading this article in a small group ethics session, our supervising physician was genuinely shocked. I think it’s fair to say that, for or against abortion, medical professionals do not know about this policy. I hope submitting this comment will begin the process of informing the public….
Jenna,
Are there places in Canada where you actually need a referral to have an abortion? Here in Alberta, all you have to do is call up the nearest abortion clinic (which are listed in the Yellow Pages, and online, and pretty much everywhere else you might go searching for them) and book an appointment. So if you were a doctor whose conscience prevented you from referring for an abortion, all you would have to do is point to the Yellow Pages.
Honestly, all this uproar about doctors not referring for abortions is just a lot of smoke and mirrors. Referrals aren’t needed to make an appointment for an abortion.
Thank you for pointing this out. Referrals themselves are not required on part of the patient anywhere in Canada- you are correct. What I meant by ‘mandatory referrals’ is that we are often taught that we are required to ‘refer’or to direct someone to abortion services ONCE/IF a patient makes a request for such information.
However, physicians across Canada are not required to provide access to abortion. That being said they cannot impede the process either. They are required to provide information regarding the procedure, process, risks, potential adverse outcomes and to suggest that they contact another physician for a referral (and a few other things which are included in the article from before). That might be an important distinction depending on your belief system, although one might argue that directing a patient to another physician for a ‘referral’ is no different than referring them yourself….
I think you make the most important point that I hope to utilize well- a physician’s role in abortion isn’t referral, since it’s not required, but providing accurate information, ensuring informed consent for a medical procedure, and compassionate thorough counseling.