Breaking barriers: Improving access to abortion care in rural Alberta

An estimated one in three Canadian women will terminate a pregnancy during their reproductive years. Access to induced abortion is essential to the reproductive health of women, non-binary, and two-spirit individuals. Despite this, barriers to accessing abortion care exist for individuals seeking these services and health care providers who offer these services. After reviewing the literature and conducting a case study analysis to determine the most significant barriers that hinder access to abortion care in rural Alberta, this study proposes three policy options for increasing access to abortion care in rural Alberta that are then analyzed using a multi-criteria analysis (MCA). Ultimately, this study recommends expanding the pool of providers to independently prescribe medical abortions in the short-term and the adoption of a large-scale telemedicine abortion program in the medium-term.