FREDERICTON – With the announcement that Clinic 554 will be closing its doors to the public today, Green Party Leader David Coon says that the Higgs government must act swiftly to ensure its services, including abortions and LGBTQ2+ health care, remain accessible in New Brunswick.

“With the closure of Clinic 554, abortions will be completely inaccessible in western New Brunswick, and yet another family doctor will have closed their practice in Fredericton,” said Coon. “On top of this, Clinic 554 was a leader in providing healthcare services to the LGBTQ2+ community in New Brunswick, which are now gone.  Providing continuity of these health care services must be a priority for the new Minister of Health and the Regional Health Authorities.”

In 2018 the federal government concluded that “the lack of coverage for private clinic abortions under the New Brunswick provincial health care insurance plan ran afoul of the accessibility and comprehensiveness criteria of the Canada Health Act.” However the New Brunswick government chose to ignore this finding.

"Swift action to ensure the continuity of health care services that were provided by Clinic 554 is essential," said Coon.