Incidents of violence and disruption reported by the National Abortion Federation's Canadian members in 2017.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To explore violence and disruption events reported by Canadian facilities providing abortion care in 2017, when only 3 provinces had passed safe access zone legislation. METHODS: We reviewed self-reported data from 16 of 38 Canadian members of the National Abortion Federation. RESULTS: Twelve facilities in 7 provinces reported 571 instances of picketing (97%), trespassing (1%), threats of harm (0.2%), and harassing calls/mail/emails (2%); 4 facilities reported no incidents. Freestanding clinics reported more picketing than hospital-based facilities. DISCUSSION: Abortion providing facilities in Canada experienced picketing and other kinds of violence and disruption in 2017. These data serve as a baseline for future studies.