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Abortion Politics in the Maritime Provinces, 1969-1988

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Abortion Politics in the Maritime Provinces, 1969-1988 A Region at Odds: Abortion Politics in the Maritime Provinces, 1969-1988 by Katrina Ackerman A thesis presented to the University of Waterloo in fulfillment of the thesis requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 2015 © Katrina Ackerman 2015 Author’s Declaration I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. ii Abstract The inaccessibility of abortion services in the Maritime Provinces remains a constant topic in the media, and yet little research has been conducted to explain the barriers to the procedure in the region. Despite many excellent studies on the barriers enforced at a provincial level after the Supreme Court of Canada case R. v. Morgentaler (1988), which decriminalized abortion nationwide, few studies provide insight into to the reasoning for strong opposition to abortion access in the region. This dissertation endeavours to fill this gap in the scholarship through a historical analysis of abortion politics in the Maritime Provinces between 1969 and 1988. When the federal government liberalized the abortion law in 1969 at the behest of the women’s movement, Canadian Bar Association, and Canadian Medical Association, opposition to the medical procedure came to the forefront. Medical professionals, politicians, clergy, and citizens quickly united to form pro-life organizations and became a powerful countermovement in the region. Through an exploration of medical society, government, and social movement organization records in conjunction with interviews with residents, this dissertation offers insight into the effectiveness and longevity of pro-life activism in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. Furthermore, it illuminates the financial, physical, and psychological costs of attempting to terminate pregnancies in the region. iii Acknowledgements There are many institutions and people that supported this project and I am very grateful for their financial assistance and encouragement. The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, University of Waterloo, and Ontario Graduate Scholarship provided financial support for this research. The Canadian Bulletin of Medical History published my article, “In Defence of Reason: Religion, Science, and the Prince Edward Island Anti-Abortion Movement, 1969-1988,” which was awarded the Hilda Neatby Prize in June 2015, and I would like to thank the journal for allowing me to reprint parts of the article in this thesis. Donna Hayes at the University of Waterloo helped me navigate numerous administrative processes over the past five years and I owe her many thanks. I am also indebted to many archivists, librarians, and researchers, including Lynn Hale Sears at the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, Andrea Robbins and Heather Allen at Nova Scotia Archives, and Sara K. Tennant from the University of Prince Edward, for helping me track down sources throughout the Maritime Provinces. I am also grateful to Peter Ryan from the New Brunswick Right to Life Association and Ann Marie Tomlins from Prince Edward Island Right to Life Association for letting me review their organizational records. I am very lucky to have received doctoral supervision from Wendy Mitchinson. She has given an indeterminable amount of her time reading funding proposals, articles for publication, and dissertation drafts. She has also celebrated my successes with me at every turn. Wendy’s kindness and consideration also extends beyond academia. She and her husband Rex kindly included my partner Thomas and me in holiday gatherings over the past five years, knowing it was too far and expensive to travel to British Columbia to see our families. For all of their support and kindness, I am very grateful. iv The other members of my committee, Tracy Penny Light and Matthew Hayday, have also offered invaluable feedback throughout this process. Tracy’s scholarship and guidance inspired much of this research. I originally planned to interview pro-choice activists and women who sought abortions in the region, but she encouraged me to consider interviewing pro-life activists. This suggestion transformed my research. The interviews provided insight into the relationship between the medical community and the pro-life movement, and allowed me to consider broader issues within the health care system. Matthew’s feedback on research and funding proposals, as well as my dissertation draft, helped me tackle the theories I tended to avoid and strengthened my arguments. I also appreciated Matthew’s forewarning about the challenge of finding government sources at the Nova Scotia Archives. While the archivists were able to find unprocessed accession files to provide insight into abortion politics in Nova Scotia, it was an arduous process that they did not want to repeat. I have been fortunate to receive mentorship from professors from coast-to-coast. During my undergraduate degree at Vancouver Island University, a number of professors, including Cheryl Krasnick Warsh, Stephen Davies, Deanne Schultz, John Hinde, and Helen Brown helped me hone my research skills and become passionate about history. At the University of New Brunswick, my Master’s supervisor Linda Kealey, as well as my graduate seminar professors Donald Wright and Gail Campbell, pushed me to become a better writer and introduced me to various types of history. During my doctoral degree, I was able to work with professors from the University of Guelph and Wilfrid Laurier University through the Tri-University program, including Alan Gordon, John Sbardellati, Geoffrey Hayes, Julia Roberts, and Heather MacDougall. Each professor imparted invaluable wisdom and for that, I am very grateful. v One of the great outcomes of this doctoral research was the friendships made along the way. My doctoral cohort—Whitney Wood, Carla Marano, Andrea Gal, Jodey Nurse-Gupta, Michelle Filice, Frank Maas, and Geoff Keelan—made reading two hundred books in one year more bearable and I credit them for helping me survive ‘the dark days.’ I was also lucky to meet and collaborate with Christabelle Sethna, Beth Palmer, Nancy Janovicek, Shannon Stettner, and Kristin Burnett on various projects. Due to the controversial nature of my research, I have often turned to my family to keep grounded. Studying an emotional and contentious topic for six years has not always been easy, but my siblings and parents were always available to talk on the phone when I needed to process information or a pep talk. Thomas, who has been by my side throughout this journey, has provided unwavering support. He does, however, hope that we will discuss abortion less often now at dinner parties. Lastly, I owe thanks to the men and women who took time out of their busy days to complete the online survey and participate in interviews for the study. As it was my first foray into oral history, I appreciated their patience and understanding as I learned the craft. I was particularly impressed by the interview participants’ kindness. People welcomed me into their homes or met me in public spaces, from coffee shops and restaurants to schools, to share their stories and memories. I am most grateful to the women who shared their abortion experiences. Thank you. vi Table of Contents Author’s ii Declaration Abstract iii Acknowledgements iv-vi Table of Contents vii List of Figures viii Introduction 1 Chapter One In Defence of Reason 28 Chapter Two On Behalf of the Unborn 57 Chapter Three ‘The End Justifies the Means’: 93 Family Planning Organizations and Intergovernmental Relations Chapter Four The “dark” and “well-kept secret”: 135 Abortion Experiences and Feminist Activism Chapter Five The End of the Beginning 176 Conclusion 215 Bibliography 221 vii List of Figures Figure 1: New Brunswick: Population: Language, Ethnic Origin, 11 Religion, Place of Birth, Schooling, 1981 Census of Canada, Statistic Canada. Figure 2: Nova Scotia: Population: Language, Ethnic Origin, Religion, 12 Place of Birth, Schooling, 1981 Census of Canada, Statistic Canada. Figure 3: Prince Edward Island: Population: Language, Ethnic Origin, 12 Religion, Place of Birth, Schooling, 1981 Census of Canada, Statistic Canada. Figure 4: PPNS Submission to Nova Scotia Legislature, 1982. 113 Figure 5: A Comparative Study of the Cultural, Economic, Political, and 137 Social Barriers to Abortion Services in the Maritime Provinces, 1969- 1996, FluidSurvey, 2013. Figure 6: “Doctor Plans to Open Halifax Clinic by June,” The Chronicle 160 Herald, 21 March 1989. viii Introduction Emerging from a decade that saw the rise of civil, aboriginal, and language rights activism, as well as the emergence of gay liberation and student movements, members of the burgeoning women’s movement entered the 1970s with a sense of optimism. The decade promised equality for Canadian citizens and the opportunity for women to improve their status outside the home. With the newly elected Liberal Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s call for a ‘just society’ and the subsequent introduction of a national health insurance plan, the health of Canadians became a national priority, regardless of one’s socioeconomic status. The drive for universal health care services fueled women’s campaigns for legalized abortion and birth control in Canada in their efforts to gain greater control over their lives. Members of the women’s liberation movement argued that control over one’s fertility was essential to women’s equality in Canadian society and their activism contributed to the legalization of birth control and abortion in 1969. The federal government’s amendment to the abortion law in 1969 only allowed access to the procedure when a woman’s life or health was endangered by the pregnancy, however, and this limitation compelled women from across Canada to mobilize and challenge the remaining restrictions during the ‘Abortion Caravan.’ In 1970, a group of women from Vancouver traveled to Parliament Hill to demonstrate their dissatisfaction with the new law.
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