Finally, equitable reproductive care may be possible for patients in the Antigonish-Guysborough Region
Wellness Within is relieved to learn that St. Martha's Regional Hospital will no longer have a religious sponsor as of September 30, 2026. A “mission services agreement” between the Sisters of St Martha, the regional health authority and the provincial department of health, dating from the 1990’s, has long prevented able and willing abortion care providers from serving patients at the hospital. St. Martha’s Hospital has also denied the provision of medical assistance in dying (MAiD) on-site, although a policy change in 2019 allows for patient transfer to the affiliated St Martha’s Centre. St Martha’s hospital is publicly funded by the province of Nova Scotia.
Wellness Within demands that given the imminent conclusion of the religious sponsorship concludes, any and all abortion and MAiD restrictions at St. Martha’s be lifted immediately.
Wellness Within is a volunteer-based registered non-profit organization that serves women, transgender, and nonbinary people who have experienced criminalization and are pregnant or have young children in Nova Scotia, part of the unceded and unsurrendered ancestral territory of the Mi'kmaq people.
Wellness Within supports people through the full spectrum of reproductive health experience; facilitates workshops and education sessions; develops resource materials; and advocates for reproductive justice issues.
Contact: Natasha Hines, Chair, (902)717-2956 or natasha_hines@outlook.com, and Martha Paynter, Director of Research, (902)292-7082 or martha.paynter@unb.ca
