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

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.