February 12th, 1988

Following the Supreme Court’s strike down of the 1969 Abortion Law, Premier Frank McKenna attempted to call on the federal government to regulate abortion nationally. It quickly became clear, however, that the provinces were expected to take a stance. Premier McKenna called a press conference and described a policy in which two doctors would have to sign off on an abortion, which would be covered by Medicare at one of four approved hospitals. Crucially, this policy was not formally adopted at this time, but merely announced. Both the pro and anti-choice movements came out against this policy.