British Columbia NDP urges govt veto of anti-choice board By KIM GOLDBERG Central Vancouver Island women seek- ing abortions will be forced to go to Van- couver, Victoria or Bellingham, Wash. after Jan. 1 following the decision by Nanaimo Regional General Hospital to stop perform- ing therapeutic abortions. On Dec. 7, the board of trustees for NRGH voted 5-2 to ban abortions at the hospital, citing the hospital’s dedication “to the preservation of life.” Four of the five trustees supporting the motion were men. The decision, made at a closed meeting, comes in spite of the fact that 87 of the hospital’s doctors who responded to a November survey initiated by the board said they opposed discontinuing abortions at the hospital. Six months earlier, local pro-life organiz- ers were successful in stacking the annual general meeting of the NRGH society at which several pro-life trustees were elected. In the 12-month period ending Oct. 31, 418 therapeutic abortions were performed at NRGH. Officials at Vancouver and Vic- toria facilities providing abortion services doubt whether they can meet the increased demand that is likely to result from the Nanaimo hospital board’s decision. ‘““We couldn’t possibly meet the demand,” Hilda Thomas of Vancouver’s Every- woman’s Health Centre said in an inter- view. “We are constantly referring women - to other clinics in the States and to hospitals in B:GY The Everywoman’s Health Centre, B.C.’s only free-standing abortion clinic, currently provides approximately 80 abor- tions per month. : ; Vancouver General Hospital, which per- forms approximately 100 abortions per ' week, is the most frequently used facility in the province. But VGH corporate affairs director Grant Roberge said VGH resour- ces are limited. ““We have fixed resources for abortions,” Roberge said in an interview. “And we have no access to funds to increase those resour- ces at this point. So the total pool of resour- ces will be spread among more people.” - Roberge added that VGH’s mandate is to provide specialized medical care and treatment not available elsewhere in the province, and he said abortions and other straightforward medical procedures should be provided in the patients’s own commun- ity. Officials at Victoria General Hospital Society were equally skeptical about their ability to increase their abortion resources to accommodate up-Island women now served by NRGH. Nanaimo MLAs Jan Pullinger and Dale Lovick denounced ‘the hospital board’s action the following day at a press confer- ence. The two New: Democrat MLAs have called on provincial Health Minister John Jansen to overturn the board’s decision. “Their decision violates the intent of the (1988) Supreme Court of Canada decision which ruled that to interfere with a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy is a profound interference with her rights to security of the person as laid out-in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” Pullinger declared. “The Minister of Health is responsible to ensure both access and universality (of health care throughout the province), so it’s his responsibility to intervene and overturn this decision,” she said. Pullinger said the process that allows five people, who are not elected by the public at large, to determine the availability of certain types of health care for women throughout the region is “‘profoundly undemocratic.” She called for two changes to the current hospital board system: hospital boards should be elected at large as school board trustees are; and there should be limits to a hospital board’s power so that it cannot contravene the laws of the land. Six of the hospital board trustees are cur- rently elected by the membership of the NRGH Society. Four are appointed by var- lous groups and governmental bodies represented on the board. Nanaimo Pro-Choice, a local citizens group committed to protecting women’s access to abortion, has called on the hospi- tal board to hold an open meeting at which the public can present briefs examining the impact the board’s abortion ban will have on central Vancouver Island women. Board chairperson Basil Hobbs said he will put the group’s request to the board members for their consideration. “a ee a '-SEASON’S GREETINGS a . from the executive and membership of the Cement Mason’s Union, Local 919 {OF : 4457 East Hastings St. Vancouver, Call hearings on UI, Bishops urge Senate Continued from page 1 related measures, will have a serious impact on the dignity and lives of. hundreds of thousands of working peo- ple and their families,” the Bishops’ statement said. “Tn view of the fact that many groups and individuals were denied an oppor- tunity to appear before the House of Commons Legislative Committee on Bill C-21, and because of the central role of the unemployment insurance program in our system of social programs, we there- fore ask that the Senate exercise its responsibilities in ‘sober second thought’ by conducting public hearings across the country. Particular efforts should be made to hear from people most directly affected by these cuts and to propose amendments aimed at overcoming the negative impacts of the legislation,” it stated. bes The statement declared: “We stand in solidarity with all those who would be the victims if this legislation were to pro- ceed in its present form and we hope that the will of the people of this country will be heard and listened to on this issue.” The Bishops’ position echoes that of hundreds of groups across the country who have spoken out in opposition to the legislation, many of whom were not given the opportunity to present their views before the House of Commons committee. That committee, chaired by Tory Bill Kempling, held hearings in a few cities across the country but selected those who be heard and rejected scores of others. Despite the contrived forum, the government’s proposals were met with universal opposition from all but busi- ness groups. And the opposition has con- tinued in the hundreds of briefs that have been submitted to the Senate from var- ious groups, including anti-poverty organizations and trade unions. Bishop Valois said the statement was issued in response to appeals from those groups who represent people that will be -hit hard by the legislation. Although there are problems in the Senate holding up the bill, which was passed by the Tory majority in the Commons earlier this year, “it is something that has to be done,” he said. Jacques Hebert, a Liberal senator and chair of the committee examining the changes, said that the Senate was not prepared to rubber-stamp the legislation and would continue to hear groups who submitted briefs even if it took the committee beyond the January deadline. But even as the bill is being considered by the Senate, the Bishops noted, the government should pass its annual legis- lation setting the variable entrance rate for UI claimants. “We call on the government to intro- duce its annual special legislation allow- ing for variable entrance requirements in order that people living in high unem- ployment regions will not be penalized ...” the statement said. “We urge the government, in collaboration with the Opposition parties to pass this special legislative measure without delay. Oth- erwise there is a danger that people living in high unemployment areas could be victimized by a parliamentary impasse Bill C-21.” a na i a ‘Holiday Greetings’ Serving workers in the telecommunications industry since 1949. 5261 Lane Street, Burnaby, B.C. VSH 4A6 437-8601 Larry Armstrong — President Doreen McMillan Secretary-Treasurer = Season's Greetings from the executive and members of the B.C. GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES’ UNION JOHN T. SHIELDS President DIANE WOOD Secretary-Treasurer Pacific Tribune, December 18, 1989 « 7 ;