Two Prince George women are organizing a pro-choice and reproductive rights rally at the University Hospital of Northern B.C. (UHNBC) this weekend in the hopes that it starts a conversation about abortion rights and access in the north.
Kellie Quick and Saige Liimatainen decided to organize the Saturday rally following the overturning of Roe v. Wade in the United States, which ends nearly 50 years of constitutionally protected abortion in that country.
The ruling is expected to result in abortion bans in about half of the states.
“I really saw how more and more Canadian cities were coming together to support the 40 million women who had just lost, or were going to lose, access to abortion rights, bodily autonomy, and the right to choose,” said Quick.
She said she started looking for rallies in Prince George and the surrounding area that she could attend but couldn’t find anything so she reached out to Liimatainen for help to organize one themselves.
“We wanted to provide a space for community members to come together and support Americans' right to choose what's best for them but throughout the journey in the last two or three weeks, it's really evolved into so much more,” said Quick.
Liimatainen said while organizing the rally she’s come to learn how inaccessible abortion services are in Prince George and the northern B.C.
While surgical and medical abortions are available in Prince George, researching abortion options in Prince George and rural communities in northern B.C. is not an easy feat as information is not readily available, especially for those without a family doctor.
Furthermore, for anyone wanting to have an abortion at 16 weeks or 18 weeks, it's a multi-day process and they have to go to Vancouver to have that done.
On their website, the BC Women's Hospital notes that patients who are seeking an abortion after 12 weeks can expect to have two or three days of appointments, and advises them to stay in Vancouver for a few days.
“That's not accessible for rural people who live in rural areas, especially with no bus running,” said Liimatainen.
“It’s just a huge piece of why I've gone so hard into this as there is no conversation about abortion happening, there's practically nothing.”
Liimatainen said in her experience she had to travel to Quesnel to access abortion services, but she felt like her healthcare provider was pushing her to wait to make her decision.
“I feel like that happens a lot with women when they're pressured, and then they don't know what to choose. They get pushed to the last minute and then they have to go down to Vancouver.”
In a previous statement to Glacier Media, B.C.'s Ministry of Health said "there is more work to do, particularly on improving access to surgical abortions in rural areas, and we will continue to work on improving access across the province."
Quick said she hopes this rally starts a conversation around abortion access and accessibility in Prince George so that it’s not viewed as a covert topic.
“I think the main thing that this rally does is it establishes that there is a community of women in Prince George that have had abortions that you know, support the right, the right to have that procedure,” said Quick.
“Word of mouth is the only way we get information around about abortion, it seems. And in a different sense, the benefit of this rally is that it asserts that abortion is valued in Prince George, whether it's by two women or by 150 women – it asserts we have a voice, we are here, and let’s talk about it.”
Quick says there is a lot of work to get to the point where all Canadian women can have an abortion when they need it if they want it and that takes continued conversation.
“I want people to feel welcome and feel heard and feel like we're not just existing up here watching what's happening in the States, we're actually taking action towards it,” added Liimatainen.
The rally will take place at UHNBC on July 16 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to support and stand in solidarity with those who have been stripped of their reproductive rights and their right to choose.
- with files from Carol Eugene Park, Glaicer Media
