Canada Injunction hits N.S. clinic | The Nova Scotia Supreme Court has upheld a provincial injunction forbidding Dr. Henry Morgentaler from conducting any more abortions in his Halifax clinic. Morgentaler, who publicly announced he had performed 13 abortions between Oct. 26 and Nov. 2, has been charged with 13 counts of violating the province’s res- trictive Medical Services Act. Each count carries a penalty of $10,000 to $50,000. The case is scheduled to be heard next March. This will be the seventh time in 19 years that the physcian, who now makes his home in Toronto, has faced criminal charges for performing abortions. His last court case led to the Supreme Court declaring the federal abortion law uncon- stitutional. In his Nov. 6 ruling, Justice Peter Richard claimed Dr. Morgentaler had “zealously embarked upon a program of defiance” against provincial authority. Justice Richard refused to rule on defence arguments that the act is in con- Miguel Figueroa FROMTHS travention to the 1988 Supreme Court of Canada. Pro-choice activists immediately reacted to the court decision by organizing pro- tests outside the provincial legislature and Dr. Morgentaler issued a public challenge to provincial health minister David Nantes to a public debate on the dubious legislation. “The validity of the Medical Services Act will eventually be decided by the ~ courts,” Morgentaler said, “but on the face of it and before the court of public opinion it is tainted, flawed, senseless and oppressive legislation.” : The act, which was passed through the Nova Scotia legislature with the support of both Conservative and Liberal caucuses in - mid-June, prohibits abortion and eight other medical procedures from being per- formed at private facilities. It was patently obvious, however, that - the legislation was solely intended to pre- MARITIMES vent the Morgentaler clinic from function- ing in the province. When members of the N.S. Medical Association met with Nantes shortly after the bill was introduced to protest the lack of prior consultation with the medical profession, they were told the government had no intention of enforcing the act for any other procedure except for abortion. Dr. Morgentaler, the Canadian Abor- tion Rights Action League (CARAL), and other pro-choice groups have pledged to appeal both the injunction and to work to overturn the legislation itself. They have issued a public appeal for financial help cover legal costs “‘to fight for the rights of women in the Atlantic provinces to safe medical abortions, against a reactionary government in Nova Scotia.” Campaign for choice ‘will continue’ Sandra Lanz is director of the Halifax Morgentaler Clinic. She was interviewed for the Tribune by Miguel Figueroa! Tribune: What will happen now at the Halifax Clinic in the wake of the injunction? Lanz: Dr. Morgentaler has declared publicly that he will not defy the injunc- tion and that, for the time being, the clinic will return to its more restricted function- ing as a abortion counselling and referral centre. In response to the government’s action, he has decided that women from the Atlantic provinces who are forced to travel to his clinics in Montreal or Toronto during this period will have most of their fees waived in order to decrease a little bit of the hardship and extra expense these women will face. Tribune: Could you comment on the Buchanan government’s legal strategy? Lanz: When Dr. Morgentaler announ- ced his intention to open a clinic in Halifax last May, the provincial cabinet. imme- diately brought down a regulation barring all therapeutic abortions except in provin- cial hospitals. They realized, however, that the regulation itself would likely not stand up in court, and that is why the Medical Services Act was introduced and passed through the legislature. ~ Health minister David Nantes thinks. that he has found the way to keep Dr. Morgentaler out of the province. The government considers him a_ threat because he is such a strong proponent of the rights of women to control their own bodies. Buchanan and company are also motivated by political considerations, cat- ering to the sizable part of the local popu- lation that are opposed to abortion services. Tribune: Why is it important to have a free standing clinic in N.S.? Lanz: Upwards of 500 women per year were going to the Montreal and Toronto clinics from this region. The extra cost and undue hardship suffered by these women proved there was a crying need for a clinic within the region. The lack of readily available abortion services, especially in PEI, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and rural N.S., was also a factor. Nantes claims that there is no need for an abortion clinic here because there are eight hospitals in the province which per- form the medical service, but over 80 per cent are done in the Victoria General in Halifax where there are long waiting list, while the other hospitals in smaller centres handle only special or emergency cases. The other side of the issue is that out-of- province women from the other parts of the Atlantic cannot, as a general rule, get abortions through our hospital structure. Without a free-standing clinic in the region, these women are either forced to travel to Quebec or the U.S., or to con- tinue to bring an unwanted pregnancy to term. ‘Tribune: Many thought the 1988 Supreme ° Court of Canada ruling which struck down the federal abortion law would have cleared away the obstacles to free-standing clinics. Lanz: The 1988 ruling was an important victory because it de-criminalized abor- tion in Canada, putting an end to the terrorization of women and the denial of their reproductive rights. The ruling, how- ever, did not prevent provinces from maintaining existing or erecting new bar- riers to universal, publicly financed acces- sibility under medicare. The Tories’ new proposed abortion leg- islation that would recriminalize abortion is desperately regressive because it would grant even more formal power to the pro- vinces to undermine access. Tribune: What about the level of support for the clinic? Lanz: First of all, public opinion is being to shift in favour of the service the clinic wants to provide. While the majority of the local press has tried to cast Dr. Morgentaler in a negative light, more peo- ple are becoming aware of the sincere, humanitarian nature of his convictions. There’s also a growing recognition of the need for more community-based clinics for women, facilities which are more cost- effective and responsive to women’s needs. The women’s movement has of course given us much support, and we were pleased to see recently both the N.S. Fed- eration of Labour and the provincial NDP come out more clearly in opposition to the government’s efforts to restrict choice in this province. We’re confident we will eventually win this battle, but it’s very frustrating right now to have to tell the dozens of women who are calling us daily to make appoint- ments that we can’t help them, only refer them to other clinics or facilities outside the region. Pay equity no closer in the major banks The Federal Employment Equity Act has had no effect on the advancement of women in the banking industry, says a newly released study by the Canadian Cen- tre for Policy Alternatives and the National Action Committee on the Status of Women. Anentire generation of women have past through the country’s six major banks and seen little change in wage levels and promo- tion. Women still dominate the banking sector, constituting 72.5 per cent of the full- time labour force, but they make only 55.9 per cent of the average salary of their male counterparts. This is a wider gap than the national average of 64.9 per cent. Men in banking earn an average $39,984 6 e Pacific Tribune, November 27, 1989 a year, while the average for women is far less at $22,368. Women dominate the lower end clerical positions where 69.4 per cent of all female bank employees can be found, compared to only 15.8 per cent of men. Three per cent of men in banking hold top posts. No women can be found in any bank- ing board room. The Employment Equity Act calls on federally regulated business to comply with guidelines promoting pay equity and advancement for women, visible minority and disabled employees. It has come under attack by target groups for its failure to promote workplace equality. A recent study found the disabled have actually fared worse since the legislation was enacted. The banks were chosen to assess the impact of the act because 53 per cent of all women covered by the act work in the bank- ing sector. : The comparison study, conducted by Phebe-Jane Poole, found the Bank of Montreal had the best performance with respect to its female employees, while the Banque National fared the worst. The Banque National has the highest percentage (83.3 percent) of full time female employees earning less than $25,000, and the lowest percentage (1.3 per cent) earning more than $40,000. In contrast, the Bank of Montreal has the lowest percentage (63.9 per cent) earning less than $25,000. Pensions fall Short of goal, council warns Canada’s retirement income system is failing to meet its goals, says a study by the National Council on Welfare. Designed to allow the elderly to live in dignity and maintain their living standards on retirement, the Canadian pension system works in such a way that most workers will see their incomes drop dramatically after 65, the study warns. “Only the rich have the luxury of not worrying about money, yet they are the greatest beneficiaries of the tax breaks pro- vided by governments to help people build up nest eggs for their retirement years,” says the council, a citizen’s advisory body to the Minister of National Health and Welfare. Poverty among the elderly has declined significantly during the last two decades, the study notes, but pensioners still rely heavily on income supplement programs and more than 600,000 live below the poverty line. Women fare the worse in poverty statis- tics. Nearly 79 per cent of all single women rely on the income supplements, but the combined provincial/federal payments are not high enough to keep all seniors out of poverty. Provincial and territorial supplements discriminate against the single elderly — mostly women — the study finds. In 1987, 47.9 per cent of unattached elderly were poor, compared to- 14.1 per cent of married seniors. Still most provinces pay couples twice the amount paid to singles, ignoring the greater financial needs of single people. A second shortcoming of the system, the council charges, is the ceiling placed on the Canada and Quebec Pension plans. The council favours these government-run pen- sion packages, but is critical of the low limit of earnings they will replace. The plans, were designed to replace a maximum of 25 per cent of earning up to the average industrial wage. But even with a full CPP or QPP pension and the Old Age Security pension, a retired person still needs a sizable Guaran- teed Income Supplement (GIS) to get over the poverty line in a large city, the study cautions. While the council congratulates govern- ment for the “long overdue” improvement to occupational pension plans, these plans are still flawed, it says. They provide poor coverage for women workers and workers in the public sector and ‘‘abysmally poor inflation protection in plans offered by pri- vate sector employers.” Only one occupational plan member in three had any automatic protection against inflation, the study finds, while only one in three workers in the private sector belongs to an occupational plan, compared to 98 per cent of public sector workers who have coverage. Of those private sector workers covered by occupational plans, men out number women, four to one. i The council credits unions with winning pension coverage for their members in the private sector, but notes such plans are almost non-existent in firms with less than 15 workers, where women predominate. In addition, well-off employees, rather than workers with average or below- average incomes, are the main beneficiaries of occupational pension plans, the study says. : The same holds true for registered retirement savings plans. “RRSPs have long been a choice tax break for wealthy Cana- dians, and the rich will be the main benefi- ciaries of federal plans to increase the contribution limit in states from $7,500 to $15,500 a year during the next several years,” the study notes.