Written by: Jill Koebel (she/her). Edited by: Etienne Maes (he/him). Summary: In Canada, both medication and surgical abortions are legal, but legality does not guarantee accessibility. Over 70% of abortions in Canada are provided in abortion clinics which tend to be located in large urban centers. The abortion pill mifepristone,…
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The SHORE Centre: Addressing Gaps in Canadian Abortion and Sexual Health Services
Written by: Jillian Schneidman (she/her), Jill Koebel (she/her). Edited by: Etienne Maes (he/him). Summary: The SHORE centre, located in the Waterloo region of Ontario, offers sexual health services, programs, and resources to their community. This article, inspired by a conversation with Executive Director of the SHORE centre TK Prichard (they/he),…
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Re-imagining Reproductive Justice through Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Discussions with Dr. Stephanie Begun
Written by: Jill Koebel (she/her). Edited by: Miles Llewellyn (they/them). Summary: The pandemic added fuel to the fire that is the state of the healthcare system in Canada. Researchers have been pushing for more interdisciplinary collaboration in the health and social service sectors, but logistical barriers make this challenging to…
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Abortion Narratives – Part 2
By: Zev (Ze/Zem). I was 15 when I found out I was pregnant. I was in an abusive relationship, and unable to realize how bad of a situation I was in. I was by myself when I read the results of the home pregnancy test. I started to cry because…
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What is an Abortion Doula? Insight from Amy Prescott
Written by: Tasha Falconer (she/her), Jill Koebel (she/her) Edited by: Etienne Maes (he/him). Summary: This article, based on a conversation with Amy Prescott (she/xe), an abortion doula with Abortion Support Services Atlantic (ASSA) in Halifax, NS, explains exactly what abortion doulas do. Amy also notes some common misconceptions and barriers…
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Abortion Narratives – Part 1
By: Anonymous In February 2020, weeks before the beginning of lockdowns and months before I’d graduate nursing school, I found out I was 6 weeks pregnant. I told myself that those two pink lines were false, there was no way I was pregnant. But then the past few weeks of…
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Sex[M]ed’s Statement Regarding the Changes to Canadian Blood Donor Policies
Introduction: On April 28th, Canadian health officials released a statement announcing that they have approved a request from Canadian Blood services to lift the restriction on blood donations for men who have sex with men (MSM) (1). This decision, which has been largely due to the lobbying from 2SLGBTQIA+ communities…
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Increasing Abortion Training in Canadian Medical Education
To add your signature to Sex[M]ed’s open letter, go to this link. Dear College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC), the Medical Council of Canada (MCC), the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC), and each medical school in Canada One in three people1 with uteruses in Canada have…
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Call for Standardization of 2SLGBTQIA+ Medical Education!
To add your signature to Sex[M]ed’s petition, go to this link. We, the undersigned, call upon the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and the College of Family Physicians of Canada to create competency-based and license-related standards for 2SLGBTQIA+ medical…
