Over $3.5 million in federal funding is going to improve Canadians’ access to vital abortion services and accurate reproductive health information.
Women and Gender Equality Minister Marci Ien says barriers Canadians experience include the lack of everything from availability to financial and logistical resources required to travel to access abortion care and culturally safe, stigma-free sexual and reproductive health services.
“Despite abortion being decriminalized more than 30 years ago, for those who live in remote areas accessing [abortion] services is even harder,” she says.
Ien says to address those barriers, just over $2.1 million is earmarked for Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights and just under $1.5 million is going to the National Abortion Federation (NAF) Canada. Ien says Action Canada will use the funds to expand its Access Line and Sexual Health Information Hub programs.
As for NAF Canada, she says they intend to provide financial and logistical support to women seeking abortion services, train health care providers in providing abortion services, and ensure abortion facilities have the capacity to continue to provide services and related care.
Ien says the money will be phased over three years and is coming from Canada’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Fund.
***With files from Mo Fahim