Vancouver abortion facility set to close after decades in business

An abortion business in Vancouver, British Columbia, that has been in operation for 35 years has announced its plans to close due to lack of funding.

The Elizabeth Bagshaw Clinic (EBC), which has reportedly seen “thousands” of patients each year since its opening in 1989, cited uncertainty in changes within the provincial healthcare system after Vancouver Coastal Health, the health authority funding the EBC, announced it was exploring a “single provider, single site” model for “reproductive health” — which includes abortion. EBC announced that because its lease is set to expire and it did not have enough funding to relocate elsewhere, closing was the only option.

Per its website, the facility commits abortions up to 17 weeks gestation. At this stage of development, the child in the womb can make complex facial expressions, and her nose and lips completely formed. She stretches, signs and opens her mouth. Her teeth are growing, and most of her body is sensitive to touch. Her heart has been beating since about 22 days after fertilization and her brain activity began at about eight weeks gestation (six weeks after fertilization). Studies have shown that this preborn child can almost certainly feel the pain of the violent procedure that ends her life.

2nd Trimester Abortion | Dilation and Evacuation (D&E) | What Is Abortion?

Abortion advocates are swiftly decrying the facility’s closure with the concern that women will have greater difficulty aborting their preborn children.

“The time is now for the Government of BC to establish a dedicated provincial strategy for community-based, trauma-informed sexual and reproductive health care,” said EBC Board Co-Chair Robyn Jones-Murrell in a statement. “Without a sustainable, coordinated system, access to critical services like abortion, STI testing and contraception will continue to be at risk.”

“It’s going to be a big loss for patients,” claimed Eleanor Fast, director of Everywoman’s Health Centre. “We want to move in the direction of more access, more options, and this is obviously going in the opposite direction.”

Nevertheless, officials are vowing to make abortion access a priority.

“Protecting access to abortion services is a key priority,” Health Minister Josie Osborne promised during a news conference last week. “There will be no stop or ending of that access.”

According to the facility’s website, it will be shutting its doors for good on June 30.