Lawyers plan suit over N.B.'s abortion access

A team of New Brunswick lawyers is preparing a lawsuit challenging what they call "draconian" laws regarding abortions.

Moncton lawyer Michélle Caron, whois leading the fight, said the province's restrictions on abortions are unconsitutional and discriminatory because they limit women's access to the procedure.

New Brunswick's medicare system will only pay for an abortion if it is performed by a gynecologist in a recognized hospital and only after two doctors recommend it as being medically necessary for the woman.

Failing that, women can go to the private abortion clinic in Fredericton and pay up to $750 for the procedure.

Caron is planning to meetHealth Minister Michael Murphylater this month to find out if the province will be more flexible on its policy of abortion.

If things don't change, she said, she plans to file the suitthis spring."Ifwe need to go, it's probably going to be in March or April that we will be filing."

The lawyers will argue that the provincial legislation "is discriminatory because it's too restrictive," she said, adding that no other medical procedure faces that kind of red tape.

Another challenge of New Brunswick's abortion policy is working it's way through the courts.

Dr. Henry Morgentaler launched a lawsuitagainst the New Brunswick governmentin 2004for not paying for the abortions at his Fredericton clinic. He argued that its legislation denies women equal access to abortions under the Canada Health Act.