Inmates ask: “What’s going on at Metro West?”

An incident at Metro West Detention Centre has raised concern that inmates are being pressured into having abortions.

One yung woman who was diagnosed by two separate doctors as bing 18 weeks and 20 weeks pregnant was told that she “ought not to have the child.” It was suggested to heer by a counsellor that she could have a late abortion in a downtown Toronto Hospital and that “no one would know,” The counselor used prenatal pictures to try to convince her that her child was expendable.

The young woman is resisting pressure to kill her preborn child. She phoned Aid to Women for help and she has spoken to a lawyer, Angela Costigan. The woman is gravely concerned that other inmates will be pressured into having abortions at the detention centre.

This incident raises concern about how pregnancy is being dealt with at the province’s jails and correctional institutes, and about what kind of counseling and support is available to women during detention. It also raises concerns about the possibility of late-term abortions at Toronto hospitals and about what methods are being used.