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"There's a place in North America where women have to wait for weeks to get an abortion because of lack of funding for nurses, doctors and operating rooms," writes Rebecca Dube in Abortion wait times in Ottawa hit six weeks .

"This place is not some conservative U.S. state or a remote corner of Canada's far north. It's Ottawa."

Advocates say that forcing women to wait as long as six weeks puts their health at risk, lengthening the time women may suffer morning sickness and other symptoms, as well as the psychological burden of waiting to terminate the pregnancy.

"Although other nations often hail Canada's system as a model for safe, legal abortion, the reality is more complicated," writes Ms. Dube.

"Nationally, only about one in six hospitals does abortions, according to a 2007 survey of all 791 public hospitals in Canada: That's 15.9 per cent, down from 17.8 per cent in 2003."

Jessica Shaw, research coordinator for Canadians for Choice, a national pro-choice, charitable organization, was online to take your questions on abortions in Canada — why Ottawa is seeing such lengthy wait times and how the rest of the country compares.

Jessica Shaw is the research coordinator for Canadians for Choice. A graduate from the University of Ottawa, Ms. Shaw has a degree in women studies and psychology. Ms. Shaw's main project for the past year has been researching, writing and following up the Canadians for Choice report Reality Check: a Close Look at Accessing Abortion Services in Canadian Hospitals.

Ms. Shaw's research on the accessibility of abortion services continues to be used by researchers, health professionals, politicians and in the media. Her work has been featured by CBC Radio, the National Post, the Ottawa Citizen, le Devoir, THIS Magazine and many others.

Along with conducting research, Jessica continues to co-ordinate the Canadians for Choice Speakers Bureau and has been a guest lecturer at many events and conferences including for the 29th Annual Guelph Sexuality Conference, the National Abortion Federation, the Canadian Research Institute on the Advancement of Women, the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs Annual Educational Conference on World Issues, Medical Students for Choice and for several different high schools.

Ms. Shaw spearheaded the Canadians for Choice "Face It! Canadian's are Pro-choice!" campaign and is currently working towards producing the first student-run production of the Choice Monologues. A dedicated advocate for healthy sexuality, Ms. Shaw continues to research critical issues involving sexual and reproductive health and rights in Canada.

Editor's Note: globeandmail.com editors will read and allow or reject each question. Questions may be edited for length, clarity or relevance. HTML is not allowed. We will not publish questions that include personal attacks on participants in these discussions, that make false or unsubstantiated allegations, that purport to quote people or reports where the purported quote or fact cannot be easily verified, or questions that include vulgar language or libellous statements. Preference will be given to readers who submit questions/comments using their full name and home town, rather than a pseudonym.

Rebecca Dube, The Globe and Mail: Hi Jessica, and thanks very much for joining us online to answer questions today. You recently took on the arduous task of calling every single public hospital in Canada to ask about abortion services, and reported your findings in this "Reality Check" report. What did you learn while doing that survey, and what surprised you about access to abortion (or lack thereof)?

Jessica Shaw: Hello Rebecca, it's my pleasure to be participating in the discussion today. The study you are talking about was published by Canadians for Choice and used a very unique three-fold methodology. First, as you mentioned, I called each of the hospitals in Canada posed as a pregnant woman looking for information about abortion services. Then, Canadians for Choice sent each hospital a written questionnaire asking about abortion services in their area (whether or not they are available, details of the services, where they refer to if they don't provide abortions etc.). Finally, I spoke with different social workers, medical staff and individual women about their experiences with abortion and combined the results to create a report called Reality Check: a Close Look at Accessing Abortion Services in Canadian Hospitals.

The results of the report are truly shocking. Since 2003, abortion access in Canadian hospitals has decreased to 15.9 per cent. This means that only 1 in every 6 hospitals has accessible abortion services. There are many traditional and new barriers that women in Canada face when trying to access abortion services. Barriers such as unexpected costs, travel time and judgemental healthcare professionals have always been a problem but new barriers, such as the emergence of voicemail as the only way to book an appointment, are also starting to emerge.

Despite the incredible logistical barriers that women in Canada face when seeking abortion services, one of the most surprising things that the study revealed is that there are still many people who pass judgement on a woman who is seeking information about abortion. Throughout the study, many hospital staff members either refused to talk with me, or gave me inaccurate information. In several instances, I was referred to anti-abortion organisations for "counselling".

The overall conclusion of the report is that access to abortion services in Canada is decreasing. In Ottawa, for example, at six weeks, women face the longest wait-times for abortion services in the entire country. This is especially unfortunate since the women and men of our country often seem to think that abortion services are readily available to anyone who needs them. The reality of the situation is that access to abortion in Canada is eroding.

Susan Allen from Canada writes: I applaud the work of the research coordinator, Jessica Shaw and her co-workers as they continue to advocate both for the right of each and every Canadian woman to CHOOSE whether or not to have an abortion and for their access, if chosen, to a safe, professionally performed medical procedure. The articles I have recently read in connection with the long waiting time and the inablitiy of particulary rural and/or Northern women to even access abortion seems to be a step backwards. As a young woman growing up in the 1970's, I remember how women then advocated for safe, legally-available abortions; to think that thirty years later our daughters and granddaughters are facing similar barriers truly makes one question just how successful we really were.

Jessica Shaw: Susan, you bring up a very good point. The question of how successful was the pro-choice movement that brought about the decriminalisation of abortion is one that many people feel strongly about. I believe that the movement was very successful in doing what it was aiming for, that being decriminalising abortion, however, an area that we definitely still need to work on is ensuring that the younger generations of Canadians do not take the rights that we have fought for for granted.

Too often I have spoken with women who have are truly shocked that they cannot access an abortion when and where they want one. I come from a generation of Canadians that has not witnessed what it was like when abortion was illegal. I cannot remember women dying of complications related to botched abortions, nor do I have memories of friends or family members feeling like criminals because they were forced to seek help at the hands of a back-alley "abortion provider".

Although I am aware of these horrific realities of what happens when abortion is inaccessible, many more young Canadians have no concept of what it was like before the Morgentaler decision. Therefore, it is absolutely critical that we continue to have discussions about abortion and all sexual and reproductive health and rights to ensure that we do not return to subjecting our women to the dangerous circumstances that have surrounded abortion of the past.

CHP My vote from Ontario Canada writes: Seeing as this topic is related to wait times, specifically to abortion wait times, how much do you think ordinary Canadians actually care? Do Canadians like me that view abortion as murder really want these times to decrease while hip replacements and cataracts are taking longer and longer? Do you honestly think that this deserves a quicker response time than cancer?

Jessica Shaw: CHP, I share your frustration at the long wait times that many cancer patients often face. In fact, having to wait for any surgery or medical procedure can be very painful and difficult. With abortion it is frustrating because it is such a simple procedure that rarely takes more than ten minutes and there are doctors who are willing to provide the service, but who just cannot book the needed OR time or hire the required support staff. Also, abortion is an extremely time sensitive procedure and can only be done within a time-frame of a few weeks, so long wait-times for the procedure can often be the difference between being able to have an abortion, or not.

Christine McInnes from Toronto Canada writes: I'm not sure the status of the Abortion pill is in Canada...Has the government approved this drug? If not wouldn't this reduce wait lists and give women an easy, fast and safe access to abortions while reducing wait time?

Amir Attaran from Ottawa writes: Ms. Shaw, would the concern that women are forced to wait an unhealthy period of time for abortion procedures not be at least somewhat ameliorated if Health Canada approved the prescription and use of medical abortion, that is, the so-called 'abortion pill'? Most European countries have approved medical abortion, as have developing countries like India. Even under George Bush, no friend of abortion rights, women in the USA have this option. Canadian women however do not. Why is that?

Jessica Shaw: In Canada, women can have a medical abortion with methotrexate and misoprostol but do not have access to the commonly used RU486 version of medical abortion that is used in so many other parts of the world. Increasing access to RU486 would only help women if there were doctors who were willing to provide it. As it stands in Canada, it is usually the doctors who provide surgical abortions who also provide medical abortions. Therefore, although it would be great for RU486 to be available in our country, it would not necessarily increase a woman's ability to access abortion services.

Job of the book from Canada writes: Maybe if we put more effort into sexual education, made condoms and birth control pills more accessible anonymously, and just all-round easier to get a hold of ... we could reduce the number of abortions that are needed all together. This would certainly be healthier for the woman having the abortion. Not that abortions aren't safe, but any kind of medical procedure has some kind of risk, and it would undoubtedly be uncomfortable and carry with it some emotional baggage.

Jessica Shaw: Job, I fully agree with you that we need to put more of an effort into sexual education and into making condoms and contraceptives for accessible to all Canadians. In a perfect world, there would not be a need for abortion at all. However, until we have developed a 100% fail-proof method of contraception (which we have not), until there are no more cases of sexual assault or abusive relationships where women do not have the choice to use contraceptives (which there are unfortunately still many of) and until humans are free from ever making mistakes (I have yet to meet a fault-free person) -- there will still be a need for abortion.

Amy Reinink from Canada writes: I'm sorry, but I don't understand why this is even an issue, or why this article would be published. I don't believe this issue concerns Canadians. Sure we aren't some 'conservative state' but I believe that the issue with Canadians is not with Abortion wait times but it is still with whether or not abortion should be legal. Look at Facebook's group 'The Great Canadian Wish List'. The #1 wish in Canada is 'To abolish abortion in canada' where over 10,000 people have taken the time to cast a vote for this. So, why are we talking about wait times when we should still be talking about whether or not it should be legal at all or at LEAST whether we should set up SOME kind of litigation for it rather than having no rules whatsoever!?

Jessica Shaw: Amy, when discussing the legality of abortion it is important to remember that women will have abortions regardless of whether or not they are legal and regardless of whether they are able to access safe services. Women had abortions in Canada long before abortion was decriminalised, just as women in other countries where abortion is illegal continue to have abortions despite the laws that try to prevent them from doing so. The real question is not whether abortion ought to be legal, but is: do we want our women to have safe, legal abortion services? Or do we want our women to be injured or die as a result of unsafe, unsanitary abortions?

michelle martin from Hamilton Canada writes: Isn't it possible that the lack of outcry over this issue indicates that Canadians are not, after all, as 'pro-choice' as they are often made out to be?

Jessica Shaw: Michelle, I don't agree that there is a "lack of outcry" over the decrease in abortion access in our country. On the contrary, since the release of the Reality Check report, Canadians for Choice has witnessed a huge response from both the general population and from medical professionals. People are outraged at the lack of respect for women and at the decrease in access to this important procedure. Studies show that Canadians are still very much pro-choice and I think that what may be misinterpreted as a "lack of outcry" is in reality a lack of knowledge that sexual and reproductive health issues are being undermined, and need to be addressed.

Rebecca Dube: Thanks very much to everyone who submitted questions; that's all the time we have for today. Ms. Shaw, thanks very much for participating in our online discussion. And closing comments to wrap up?

Jessica Shaw: To conclude our discussion today, I'd like to suggest that Canadians start talking about sexual and reproductive health and rights again. Although abortion is only one of many sexual and reproductive health services, it is a service that is rarely discussed openly. Of course it is not a joyful topic, but it is nonetheless an important one. It is a dangerous path we are on when the young adults and youth of our era are often unaware of how important sexual and reproductive health and rights are, and of how treacherous it would be for society if a woman's right to make decisions about childbearing was taken away. Sharing stories, thoughts and experiences is key in ensuring that future generations understand and acknowledge the importance of maintaining a pro-choice Canada. I would like to invite each Canadian to share their story with the rest of the county. You can do so by talking with your colleagues, friends and families, by contacting Canadians for Choice, or by entering the "Pro-Choice Canada" contest here.

Until all Canadian women and men are capable of easily accessing necessary sexual and reproductive health services, it is critical that we keep talking about the issues that Canadians face. Access to abortion is not a guarantee and our right to a safe and legal abortion is not something that we can take for granted. It is therefore very important to continue to discuss and monitor the current situation surrounding abortion in Canada. After all, a choice that cannot be exercised in a safe, accessible, affordable and supportive manner is no choice at all.