Anti-abortion activist presents to Health PEI board

A doctor from Ontario made a presentation Tuesday to the board of Health PEI on behalf of the P.E.I. Right to Life Association, while a pro-choice professor says she is still waiting for a meeting.

Dr. Deborah Zeni, of the deVeber Institute for Bioethics and Social Research, was brought to the Island by the P.E.I. Right to Life Association to discuss the institute's book, which outlines research it says shows the short-term and long-term complications that can arise following an abortion.

On the other side of the abortion debate, UPEI professor Colleen MacQuarrie says she's still waiting to present her research to Health PEI. Her research concluded that restricting access to abortions has a negative impact on Island women's health.

She emailed her findings to Health PEI in January and offered to discuss them in person, but says she still hasn't received a response.

In an email to CBC News, a spokesperson for Health PEI said its board values public input and anyone can ask to make a presentation to the board through a formal request process. The spokesperson said no request has come in from the pro-choice group to do that.

Health PEI board meetings are closed to the media.

P.E.I. is the only province in Canada where legal abortions are not performed. Abortions are funded by the province's health care systems, but women must travel to the mainland for the procedure.