A recently published video portrays the co-founder of a pro-life group as someone interested in providing abortions, including at a clinic in Toronto.
Over the past 10 days, RightNow, a pro-life advocacy organization, has released a series of videos on social media in which the group’s co-founder, Alyssa Golob, reportedly talks with staff at four Canadian clinics about decriminalizing abortion in 2023.
in an interview with torontotoday This week, Golob said she was not actually seeking an abortion two years ago, but that she had secretly recorded the video on her phone while at the clinic, with the aim of showing that “late” abortions occur in Canada and that such procedures are not exclusively reserved for women with medical complications.
Frédéric Chabot, executive director of Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights (Planned Parenthood Canada), said the published video used “American tactics” designed to suggest that abortion in Canada is a “back-alley, sketchy job” performed by unscrupulous doctors.
He said the reality couldn’t be further from the truth – that abortion in Canada is a legal, regulated, health-care procedure performed by trained physicians.
RightNow’s videos have been viewed several million times in total. Chabot said this type of “propaganda” is becoming increasingly common in Canada and that anti-abortion campaigners in the United States have used the same playbook to roll back women’s rights. In 2022, the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, removing federal constitutional protection for abortion.
video timing
Chabot alleged that RightNow released the campaign video in time for anti-abortion policies to be passed in Alberta.
He said the videos were released just weeks before members of Alberta’s ruling United Conservative Party (UCP) vote in upcoming November on a motion to halt funding for third-trimester abortions in the province, except in cases where the mother’s physical health is in grave danger.
“They are trying to incite the public to support,” Chabot said. “The timing is very well coordinated.”
Golob denied the allegation. She said the videos were released nearly two years after they were allegedly filmed because she was focusing on other priorities, namely caring for her third child following the birth of her and engaging in campaign work related to the 2025 federal election.
Nevertheless, he said that the timing of the release was coincidental in relation to the UCP proposal.
RightNow’s stated mission is to elect pro-life politicians to pass pro-life policy. Recently released campaign videos link to the RightNow petition, calling on Prime Minister Mark Carney to ban late-term abortions, which has garnered nearly 3,200 signatures.
Chabot said he is concerned that if legislation restricting abortion funding is passed in Alberta, it could set a precedent that would also affect health care in other provinces.
Late-term abortions rare: federal government
One of the videos recently released by RightNow focuses on the Cabbagetown Women’s Clinic, an abortion provider in Toronto’s east end, which Golob reportedly visited about two years ago.
The 8-minute video, which has now received over 100,000 views on
Two other videos released about alleged experiences at clinics in Montreal and Vancouver have a similar theme.
In Canada, abortion is legal and there is no end limit on when an abortion can be performed during the pregnancy period. According to the federal government, most miscarriages occur during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy and late miscarriages are rare.
About 87 per cent of abortions in Canada in 2020 were performed during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, according to an estimate by the Canadian Abortion Rights Coalition, based on data from hospitals and clinics.
torontotoday RightNow contacted Cabbagetown Women’s Clinic to inquire about the video, but did not receive a response prior to publication.
Are videos harmful for women?
Chabot said the video is a textbook example of “disinformation”, the deliberate sharing of false or misleading information. Specifically, he said the videos lack necessary context and rely on misleading clips that have been strung together in a way designed to elicit an emotional response.
In RightNow’s Toronto video, Chabot said the focus on the perceived cost of the procedure at the clinic is intended to portray abortion as “nefarious.”
After the video’s introduction, a staff member from the clinic is seen on the phone telling Golob that the cost of an abortion will be approximately $2,150, and because they do not have a credit card machine, only cash is accepted. The video shows a man counting bills from envelopes behind a desk.
Chabot said that in Canada, like most other medical procedures, abortions are covered by provincial health insurance, eliminating the need for the clinic to process patient payments.
In a shorter, separate RightNow video shared on TikTok, Golob said the Toronto clinic reportedly required him to pay out-of-pocket because, as an Alberta resident, he is not covered under the Ontario Health Insurance Plan. This was not mentioned in the main 8 minute video.
Chabot said the video also falsely states that it is common for women in the late stages of pregnancy to suddenly wake up one morning and decide to have an abortion. She said women who seek late-term abortions typically face medical complications or complex social circumstances that hinder access to care in the first place, such as violent relationships, homelessness or mental health issues.
In the video about Golob’s alleged experience at the Toronto clinic, she is seen talking to the clinic’s abortion counselor and doctor, who answer her questions about how late in her pregnancy she can have an abortion. The alleged clinic staff member says the clinic is limited to performing abortions up to 24 weeks, with procedures performed later in the pregnancy at a nearby Toronto hospital.
Dr. Lynn Murphy-Coulbeck, president of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada, said she also believes the video is “disinformation” and harmful to medical professionals and women who may consider abortion at some point in their lives.
“I think, really, it makes women look like bad women, and (like) they don’t care,” she said. “It casts women as bad people for taking control of their reproductive lives.”
Murphy-Koulbeck said that she believes focusing on the particular threshold at which a provider will offer an abortion is unfair, and emphasized that such a decision is between “a woman and her physician.”
While Golob charged that many Canadians do not support late-term abortion, Chabot said there is a national consensus that medical decisions “should be made by people and their doctors, not by politicians or anti-choice groups.”
Murphy-Coulbeck said it’s important for viewers to understand that videos like this are often selectively edited to remove context that could give a full picture of a patient’s interactions with health care providers.
during an interview with torontotodayGolob said she would provide the complete, unedited recording allegedly captured at the Toronto clinic. However, ultimately she did not share it before publication.
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