Distance between institutions of incarceration and procedural abortion facilities in Canada

Abstract

People incarcerated in facilities for women and girls face a number of barriers to accessing abortion, including unclear legislation, operational procedures, and distance. While medication abortion could mitigate distance barriers, prison is not a hospitable environment for medication abortion. Considering this limitation, this paper aimed to identify the distance from institutions of incarceration designated for women and girls to facilities offering procedural abortion in Canada. This study builds on an inventory of the 67 institutions of incarceration designated for women and girls across 13 provinces and territories in Canada, previously created by the authors. Procedural abortion facilities were identified using publicly available directories. Distances between institutions of incarceration and procedural abortion facilities were calculated using Google Maps. The closest procedural abortion facility was identified for each institution, as well as the gestational age limit of each facility. Of the 67 institutions, 23 (34%) were located 0-10 km from a procedural abortion facility. Fourteen (21%) were located 10.1-20 km away. Ten (15%) were located 20.1-100 km away. Eleven were located 100.1-300 km away (16%). The remaining 9 (13%) were located between 300.1-738 km away. Distances ranged from 0.1 km to 738 km. The greatest distances were among institutions in northern Canada. This paper identified a large range of distances between institutions of incarceration and procedural abortion facilities in Canada. Although it remains a barrier, physical distance is only one measure of accessibility of abortion services. For incarcerated people, contextual factors including carceral policies and procedures present barriers to care, with significant impact on health equity. Distance between carceral institutions and procedural abortion facilities reduces equitable access to reproductive health services for incarcerated populations. Pregnant people should be protected from imprisonment to ensure reproductive autonomy.