Privacy commissioner orders release of more northern Ontario abortion info to allow for 'meaningful debate'

Documents obtained through freedom of information requests are giving us a rare glimpse at abortion services in northern Ontario.

This comes after the province's information and privacy commissioner overruled a decision by the Ministry of Health.

The figures show over 400 surgical abortions were performed in the northeast in 2021 and it's been steadily declining since 2017.

But the province is now refusing to say what the reason for that might be or answer any questions about abortion access in the north.

"The ministry continues to support access to medically necessary services across the province and in the north," reads a statement from the Ministry of Health.

"I think what it says is we're still in a battle to have abortion seen as a regular part of the health-care system," said Carolyn Egan from the Ontario Coalition for Abortion Clinics.

In 2012, when Ontario hospitals were added to the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act, the government took the unusual step of prohibiting the release of any information related to abortion.

A similar clause for medical assistance in dying was added when it became legal in 2017. 

That same year, a court ruled the ban on abortion information violated the Charter of Rights and the law was amended to prohibit any information that might identify where abortions are performed.

When the CBC requested northern abortion numbers in 2019, the Ministry of Health claimed that data would reveal the location of abortion clinics and also initially claimed it could be used to identify patients and staff.

The CBC appealed to Ontario's Information and Privacy Commissioner, which overruled the ministry in November 2021, finding there was no evidence to support the government's claims. 

"There is insufficient reliable statistical data to allow for meaningful debate on abortion," adjudicator Daphne Loukidelis wrote in her decision.

"In order to have a meaningful public debate, the available information to allow for a meaningful public debate certainly needs to go beyond some of the basic statistical information offered by Ontario in these proceedings."

After that, the CBC acquired the following statistics for surgical abortions performed in the different districts of northern Ontario: 

The province does not officially list the locations of abortion clinics, although some standalone clinics in southern Ontario choose to publish that information themselves.

Multiple sources, including doctors, patients and advocates, say most in the north are done at hospitals. The only hospital to reply to CBC's requests for information was Health Sciences North in Sudbury, which referred questions about abortion access to Public Health Sudbury and Districts.

Carol Lougheed, a longtime nurse in the sexual health department, says they provide information to pregnant women about what services are available, but don't monitor how the system is working beyond that. 

"Once we've discussed the options part, we leave that to the client themselves," she said. 

"With confidentiality, the client comes first, so details, things like that, are not going to be available."

At the North Bay-Parry Sound District Health Unit, nurse Andrea Laufer says she knows of one doctor in North Bay who offers surgical abortions up to 10 weeks and three local providers who prescribe abortion medication, but couldn't say much else. 

One of the few things that those on opposing sides of the abortion debate agree on is the need for more public information. 

"It feels nearly impossible. It's pretty frustrating to try to navigate a system that doesn't seem to be set up for people to access it," said Amber Gaudreault, who's with the Sudbury-Manitoulin Abortion Support Collective. 

"I think there needs to be much more clear information. It makes it scary for people seeking abortions to actually move forward."

"We've heard this term cancel culture. Well, if we cancel the conversation then the issue doesn't exist," said Bill Murphy, a longtime anti-abortion activist in Sault Ste. Marie, who says the local hospital used to regularly release abortion stats. 

"And they want to end the conversation there because they do not want debate."

A Sudbury mother of two in her 40s, who CBC has agreed not to name to protect her privacy, says that when she went to have an abortion in 2020, she was "shocked" at how little information was publicly available. 

"If you like Google 'Abortion Sudbury,' you're going to be searching. It shocked me. Why is this so hard?" she said. 

"I think there's a better way. And I think secrecy and security just keeps it more stigmatized ... I think when the safety measures are hiding what's really happening, I think that's gone too far."

A doctor who performs surgical abortions in northern Ontario spoke with the CBC on the condition that their name and gender not be disclosed, over concern for their safety. 

"I take different ways to work every day. I go different ways home. Because what has happened to colleagues of mine," they said. 

"The way we are holding debate and conversation and the aggression that is coming up in Canada, it worries me more than it has before."

The doctor, who has been performing abortions for 15 years, says if the public was more aware that abortions are being done in their community and how they access them, it would "alleviate a lot of anxiety."

However, they say the secrecy and privacy put in place by hospitals and the health system helps to ensure that the service continues to be offered and that northern women continue to have access. 

"They're trying to protect the service and protect the patient and protect the access and I can understand the concern of not wanting to change that," the doctor said. 

"And I can also understand the need to change that."