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Clinic 554, New Brunswick's only freestanding abortion clinic and a family healthcare provider, said it will be forced to close at the end of this month. The clinic's director has applied for an exemption to keep temporarily treating some of the most vulnerable patients.
3,000 people will be placed on waitlists for a new family doctor, Global News reported. The clinic is also one of the few places in the area that provides respectful, stigma free healthcare services to trans people. https://globalnews.ca/news/7354039/waitlist-doctor-clinic-554/
It's closing because the province won't fund abortions outside of hospitals. Privacy is a huge reason many people would rather go to a private clinic, especially in a small province. And hospitals are so overloaded they sometimes refer patients to Clinic 554.
Abortion care generally costs between $700 and $850, an advocate told me for a @HuffPostCanada story last year. If someone came in needing an abortion who was really vulnerable and couldn't afford it, the clinic wouldn't charge them. https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/abortion-clinic-closure-new-brunswick_ca_5d9fa05de4b087efdbab11c0
Saving Clinic 554 was in both the Liberals' and NDP's campaign promises last fall, and the federal govt has said NB is violating the Canada Health Act. In March, they penalized NB for it by denying them transfer payments, but because of the pandemic, the feds paid the money back.
Activists have been occupying the province's legislature since Saturday. Tonight they're holding a vigil "in acknowledgement of all we are about to lose," organizer Dr. @KerriFroc said.
