Incidents of violence and disruption reported by the National Abortion Federation's Canadian members in 2017

Kathryn J LaRoche; Amelia Martzke; Jill Doctoroff; E Goldberg; Angel M Foster

doi:10.1016/j.contraception.2021.09.010

Incidents of violence and disruption reported by the National Abortion Federation's Canadian members in 2017

Contraception. 2022 Feb:106:75-77. doi: 10.1016/j.contraception.2021.09.010. Epub 2021 Sep 26.

Authors

Kathryn J LaRoche¹, Amelia Martzke¹, Jill Doctoroff², E Goldberg³, Angel M Foster⁴

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
² National Abortion Federation Canada, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
³ National Abortion Federation, Washington, DC, United States.
⁴ Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada; Institute of Population Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada. Electronic address: angel.foster@uottawa.ca.

PMID: 34587502
DOI: 10.1016/j.contraception.2021.09.010

Abstract

Objective: To explore violence and disruption events reported by Canadian facilities providing abortion care in 2017, when only 3 provinces had passed safe access zone legislation.

Methods: We reviewed self-reported data from 16 of 38 Canadian members of the National Abortion Federation.

Results: Twelve facilities in 7 provinces reported 571 instances of picketing (97%), trespassing (1%), threats of harm (0.2%), and harassing calls/mail/emails (2%); 4 facilities reported no incidents. Freestanding clinics reported more picketing than hospital-based facilities.

Discussion: Abortion providing facilities in Canada experienced picketing and other kinds of violence and disruption in 2017. These data serve as a baseline for future studies.

Keywords: Abortion; Anti-choice activism; Canada; Picketing; Protests.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Abortion, Induced*
Abortion, Spontaneous*
Ambulatory Care Facilities
Canada
Female
Humans
Pregnancy
Violence