The British Columbia legislature has appointed a Special Committee to review the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) in B.C. This Committee is accepting submissions <\/a>from anyone who would like to speak up, until January 29, 2016.\u00a0<\/strong> We have filed an\u00a0<\/span>official submission<\/span><\/span>\u00a0asking the Committee to recommend ending the censorship of abortion-related information that the B.C. FIPPA currently allows.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n This exemption for abortion statistics is unique in the health care field; it is the\u00a0<\/span>only\u00a0<\/span>medical\u00a0<\/span>procedure for which hospitals are not required to keep detailed records.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Private clinics are not even required to report how many abortions they perform each year.\u00a0<\/span>These records\u00a0<\/span>should<\/span>\u00a0include data on complications during or following the procedure, physical or psychological follow-up care required, gestational age at time of abortion, or reasons given for the abortion<\/span>.\u00a0 Clearly this random exemption is political in nature, with no bearing in fact and no constitutional ground to stand on.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n