About Us
Driven by the desire to increase access and abolish shame, CIHC recognizes that abortion is not merely permissible under the law, but essential, important, positive, and powerful. We first opened our doors in 1988 and are now a licensed and fully funded, non-profit clinic with a community-based board of directors. We receive our funding from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and we are regulated as an Out-of-Hospital Premises by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. We are also a member of the National Abortion Federation (NAF) and adhere to their standards for abortion care.
At CIHC, we focus on our care on you, your personal experience, and your needs. We continue to push into new frontiers; adapting to the world around us and responding to your changing needs for abortion services. Pregnant people face many invisible barriers, and we are here to identify and remove them. Because what happens next is your choice. You’re the expert.
Statement of Purpose
Choice in Health Clinic is a not-for-profit abortion clinic providing safe, quality, comprehensive abortion services.
We treat all women, transgender, and gender diverse people in a non-judgmental and respectful way.
We support people’s right to make informed choices about their own reproductive health.
Our model of care integrates counselling into the provision of abortion services and attempts to meet client’s various needs.
As part of our commitment to informed choice, we educate clients about reproductive health care, work with other health care professionals to improve the provision of reproductive health care, advocate for abortion service and client needs, and reach out to related agencies and communities.
Statement of Values
CIHC strives to develop and deliver services in an inclusive, anti-racist feminist environment, which we understand to be:
Client-centered, meaning being based on an individual’s unique experiences and needs
Responsive, caring, non-judgmental, and trauma-informed
Knowledgeable about, as well as respectful and affirming of, women, transgender and intersex people, and all folks along the spectrum of gender identity and expression
Lesbian, bisexual, gay, and queer positive
Mindful of gendered power dynamics in sexual relationships and the potential impact on a pregnant person’s ability to make autonomous decisions about their pregnancy
Respectful of differing spiritual needs and practices
We are committed to challenging our own thinking and systemic barriers that might limit access to safe and quality abortion services. Some of the barriers we identify relate to race, culture, religion, class, sexual orientation, physical ability, gender identity and expression, intersex variations, body size, age, immigration status, nationality, mental health, poverty, socio-economic status, geography, and experience of sexual assault.
Disability Justice Statement
Click here to view our statement, and additional Accessibility information.
Trans Inclusion Statement
Knowing our history with the women’s right movement we acknowledge that folks who identify as trans, non-binary, gender non-conforming and gender diverse identities will face additional barriers to safe and equitable abortion care. We also recognize the history of systemic violence that trans, non-binary, gender non-conforming and gender diverse identities face in gender binary specific spaces such as the Choice in Health Clinic. As a consequence of this CIHC is striving to gain expertise in trans specific abortion care and recognizes that people of trans, non-binary, gender non-conforming and gender diverse identities are experts in their own health and deserve to see themselves reflected in the team at CIHC. In 2020 the Board of Directors made the important decision to no longer require individuals working or volunteering in our space to identify as women.
Indigenous Health Statement
CIHC recognizes that our clinic is located on the traditional territory of the Anishnaabe, Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, the Haudenosaunee, and the Huron-Wendat. Indigenous peoples have lived on and cared for this land for well over 20,000 years. We also recognize that the history of abortion access also includes the history of Indigenous people who experienced forced abortions resulting from institutionalized eugenics and forced pregnancy from sexual violence. This history is why we strive to improve the experience of our Indigenous clients at CIHC. In 2020 our staff completed the Ontario Core Indigenous Cultural Safety Health Training program and we offer clients the opportunity to take their products of conception home for private burial or ceremony.
About our Team
Our organization is led by a volunteer Board of Directors who represent wide variety of backgrounds including government, health care, public policy, and the legal sector. The board of directors hires our Executive Director, who oversees a team of health care professionals, counsellors, and administrators. All of our physicians are members of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, our Options Counsellor is a registered psychotherapist, and our nurses are RNs and RPNs. Everyone at CIHC brings years of experience in health care, sexual health, and abortion care.