Big decline in abortions at 2 southwestern Ontario hospitals over last decade, data shows

The number of abortions performed attwo southwestern Ontario hospitalstrended downward over the last 10 years, according to new numbers obtained byCBC News.

Windsor Regional Hospital (WRH) performed 604 abortions in the 2012-13 fiscal year compared to 169 in the most recent fiscal year.Meanwhile, Bluewater Health in Sarniaperformed 199 abortions 10 years ago and 69 duringthe most recent fiscal period.

For patients, "I think it does reassure them that they're not on this totally lonely journey [by themselves]," said Dr. Fraser Fellows, aretired obstetricianand gynecologist (ob-gyn) who worked in London from 1974 to 2018. "There's help out there and the evidence is in the numbers that you're revealing to them."

Fellows has been performing abortions since the 1970s. Hesaid he "was happy to provide that option"to ensure the procedure "was done safely and effectively."

A decline in abortions is a sign "the medical community has embraced the concept of a medical abortion, of a non-surgical abortion," Fellowssaid.

In 2015, Health Canada first approvedMifegymiso, a combination product containing two drugs (mifepristone and misoprostol) that are taken in sequence to terminate a pregnancy. In 2017, the medication was permitted for pregnancies up to nine weeks. Before that, it could be used for pregnancies up to seven weeks.

Three years ago, Health Canada said an ultrasound is no longer required before the drug is prescribed. Doctors can use their "medical judgment on how best to determine the gestational age and to rule out an ectopic pregnancy," according to the federal department.

Access granted after request denied

CBC News first requested abortion-related data from WRHon May 4 a time when there was speculation that the U.S. Supreme Court would overturn Roe v. Wade, which protected the right to an abortion.

In June, the majority conservative court ruled 6-3 tooverturn the Roe v. Wadeinterpretation of the Constitution and found it does not protect abortion rights. That openedthe door forstates to restrict or outright ban abortion.

"We aren't commenting on the issue at this time, most importantly for privacy and security of patients and our clinical staff," said WRH spokesperson Steve Erwin in an email to CBC News.

The next day, CBC News filed a Freedom of Information request seeking the same information. The hospital denied the request again, sayingthe abortion-related data could seriously threaten an individual's safety and violate someone's privacy. Bluewater Health in Sarnia claimed the same exemptions for denying making the information public.

Following an appeal of the hospitals' decisions,both agreed to release the data roughly five months after the initialrequest was made.

However, WRH has refused to comment on the information.

"You have the data you requested. We will not be conducting any interviews on the data we have provided," said Erwin in a subsequent email.

Contraception use leading to fewerabortions?

The data on the two hospitals illustrates a downward trend that could be attributable to the increase in the use of IUD birth control, atiny, T-shaped deviceinserted in the uterus, said Carolyn Egan, spokesperson for theOntario Coalition for AbortionClinics.

"It seems that is really lowering the rate of unplanned pregnancies ... because it's something that is very good in terms of effectiveness in preventing pregnancy," said Egan.

She agrees with Fellows that access to abortion medication from 2015 onward has likely contributed to fewer hospital abortions.

Egan said sheworries a strain on hospital resources could be "squeezing out the numbers of abortions" performed.

However, both WRH and Bluewater Health in Sarniareport no waits for therapeutic abortions.

Few doctors doabortions in southwestern Ontario

Currently, five doctors perform abortions at WRH. In Sarnia, there is one ob-gyn performing abortions and only threehave done so in the last 10 years. Fellows was one of those physicians, travelling from London to Sarnia.

Fellows recalls a time in the 1990s when people would protest outside the home of a physician who providedabortions. He experienced it too.

"That's when most of my colleagues in London, Ont.,and basically around Ontario opted out of providing the service of abortion."

The situation in Chatham-Kent, Leamington

The Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA), which serves just over 100,000 people, doesn't terminate pregnancies for "elective(or)planned reasons," according to a response to a CBC NewsFreedom of Information request in July.

The hospital only performs abortions for medically necessary reasons. It didn't explain why it doesn't perform electiveabortions.

"CKHA has not provided abortion services as in the past CKHA was affiliated with the Sisters of St. Joseph's. During that time, appropriate referral patterns were established for the organization and those referral patterns still exist today," said spokespersonFannie Vavoulis.

Anyone who calls the Chatham-Kent Public Health Unit inquiring about abortion services isreferred toWindsor, London orsometimes Toronto, said health unitspokesperson April Rietdyk.

"We need to fix that," said Fellows. "And the medical profession can fix it by deputizing other people, other than physicians to at least provide access to a medical abortion [by using medication]."

Erie Shores Healthcare in Leamington also does not perform abortions. The county hospital refers those patients to Windsor.

Ultimately, Egan said, it shouldn't be difficult to obtain abortion-related data because it's a "basic health service."

"It's so important that abortion be regularized as a part of our medical system," Egan said. "It's a health service and it should be made available that way, and anyone who accesses it should not have to struggle to find out the availability and how to connect."