A report from the CBC reveals that the only abortion facility in Newfoundland, Canada, threatened to close its doors if it didn’t receive government funding earlier this year, in part because it was committing fewer abortions. Athena Health Centre, which reportedly commits over 90% of the province’s abortions, had to repeatedly petition the government for more money due to rising costs and declining revenue.
The reason for the decline, claims facility owner Rolanda Ryan, is a decrease in casual sex.
Ryan told the CBC in July that she almost had to shut down because of a lack of demand following the COVID-19 pandemic. “It really impacted people’s getting out and mingling, and our numbers fell dramatically during COVID, like really significantly, because none of this unplanned sexual activity was happening,” she said.
Ryan reports that her facility committed around 900 abortions per year until the pandemic hit. In 2020, that number fell to about 700, and in 2021, it dropped even lower to between 600-700. This meant lower revenue for the abortion facility, which also faced rising costs.
It wasn’t until Ryan threatened to close that the government stepped in and gave her more money. “I have come to the realization that I may have to close the clinic if something doesn’t change in the very near future,” she wrote to the premier and health minister on February 3. She first requested financial assistance in November 2020.
After her repeated requests, the Canadian government stepped in, offering the abortion facility an additional $1 million annually in funding.
“The idea of actually shutting this clinic down was devastating because I realize that people who want an abortion will have an abortion, whether it’s self-inflicted or whether it’s done with care and compassion and safety,” Ryan told Radio-Canada. “I did not want to shut the clinic down and it was truly a last resort.”
“I do the work because I truly, in my soul, feel this is such good work, people need this service and we know that if abortion isn’t safe and legal it still happens,” she added.
While Ryan decries the reduced number of abortions due to a decrease in unplanned sex, her comments and her facility’s financial situation expose the truth: abortion is the primary money maker for the majority of these “health centers,” which profit from the homicide of preborn human beings. Instead of being billed as “devastating,” the decrease in casual sex and resulting abortions should be applauded.
