By Maija Kappler, The Huffington Post
New Brunswick’s only freestanding abortion clinic, which also provides health care to much of the province’s transgender population, is set to close.
Clinic 554 has previously relied on crowdsourced donations to stay open, and the staff sometimes forgoes payment from patients in order to provide services.
“We feel a tremendous amount of fear for our patients and the underserved communities we care for,” Clinic 554’s medical director, Dr. Adrian Edgar, said in an emotional statement posted to Facebook. “I thought I would be the family doctor for my patients until I or they died.”
But, because of New Brunswick’s refusal to cover abortions performed outside of a hospital, which advocates have said violates the Canada Health Act, Edgar said “it is financially unsustainable for us to keep our doors open, and the clinic has been placed for sale.”
He’s hoping the next federal government might intervene.