• Abortions in Saskatchewan are free if you have a valid Saskatchewan Health Card. If you do not have a valid Saskatchewan Health Card and/or are from out-of-province, you may have to pay the cost of the abortion upfront. A procedural abortion costs about $2,000, and a medical abortion costs about $400.
• If you have to travel for your abortion, you will have to pay for travel, gas, food, childcare, and possibly an overnight stay.
• If you have to travel outside of Saskatchewan to another Canadian province or territory for your abortion, you may have to pay upfront for the abortion: about $400 for a medical abortion, and $2000 for a procedural abortion. You can submit your abortion costs to the Saskatchewan Health Authority here. Saskatchewan Health Authority does not cover travel or accommodation expenses, but SASN can help.

• Abortions can cause pain and/or discomfort.
• Medical abortions cause cramps and bleeding.
• For surgical abortions, you will be under the care of an anaesthesiologist. You may feel sleepy during the procedure, and you may have cramps and bleeding for 3-5 days after.

• Yes, but all hospitals and clinics are required to keep abortions confidential. Abortion providers cannot legally tell anyone that you have had an abortion unless you want them to.
• Your medical records will also show your total number of pregnancies. Care providers may ask the result of those pregnancies.

No, you do not need your partner’s permission to get an abortion in Canada.

There are no laws in Canada that require minors to have permission from parents or guardians to receive an abortion. However, whether a doctor will perform an abortion on a minor is up to their discretion, as they need to make sure you fully understand the process and its implications. If you are under the age of 18, you can contact SASN or Saskatoon Sexual Health for help connecting with an abortion provider.

It depends on the doctor. There are places in Saskatchewan where you can get an abortion up to 18 weeks, 6 days of pregnancy. If you need an abortion but are 19 weeks pregnant or over, you will be referred to a clinic outside of Saskatchewan.

• Your doctor will figure out how far along you are in your pregnancy by considering:
• The time since the first day of your last menstrual period
• The size of your uterus
• Blood tests and an ultrasound

• This decision is partly up to you and partly up to your medical provider.
• Your medical provider will consider your medical risk factors and how far along you are in your pregnancy. Depending on certain factors, they may tell you that you cannot have a medical abortion.
• If your doctor tells you that you can decide whether to have a medical or procedural abortion, some things you may want to consider are:
  • Would you rather take a medication so that your body passes the pregnancy tissue itself (medical abortion), or have a doctor remove the pregnancy tissue manually (procedural abortion)?
  • Do you want to have the abortion at home or in a clinic? While medical abortions can be done at home, procedural abortions must be done in clinics.
  • Are you okay with the abortion taking longer? While procedural abortions only take 10-20 minutes, medical abortions can take 24 hours.
  • Are you okay with going to the clinic more than once? Medical abortions usually require follow-up visits, but procedural abortions do not.
  • Are you okay with seeing the pregnancy tissue? This may happen if you have a medical abortion.

There are no laws in Canada that require you to see your ultrasound in order to get an abortion. You can ask to see the ultrasound if you want, but you should not be forced to see the ultrasound.

• Unfortunately, there are sometimes protestors at clinics that do abortions. These protestors stand outside the clinics and may want to stop you from getting an abortion. Remember that you do not have to talk to them. If you are feeling uncomfortable about getting to the clinic, you can call the clinic and ask them to escort you in.
• An abortion doula can come with you to help you get into a clinic comfortably. Contact us for more information.

The clinic will get you a first appointment as soon as they can. You may have to wait a couple of days between your first appointment and your abortion, so that your provider can make sure you are pregnant and that you can have an abortion.

• If you are having a procedural abortion, you will not be able to drive to or from the appointment. You can have a friend, partner, family member, or abortion doula help you in getting to and from your appointment. Some places require that you leave procedural appointments by car or taxi, not by public transportation.
• If you do not have anyone to take you to the clinic, you can contact us and we can put you in touch with an abortion doula who will help you out.

• Your medical provider may:
  • Take your vital signs (heart rate, blood pressure)
  • Listen to your heart and lungs
  • Perform a pelvic examination to feel your ovaries, fallopian tubes, and uterus.
  • Ask you to do a urine pregnancy test
  • Ask you to do a blood test to check for anemia, your blood type, and potential STIs.
  • Ask you if you would like to have a pap smear.
• Your provider may also ask you if you want an IUD, a small, t-shaped device which is inserted into the uterus to prevent pregnancy. If you are getting a procedural abortion, your doctor can insert your IUD at the same time as the abortion.

• Sex Life Sask
• Saskatoon Sexual Health
• Regina Women’s Health Centre
• Saskatoon Community Clinic
• National Abortion Federation