Nearly impossible, that’s how one Quebec woman describes her fight to access a mammogram in the province.
Linda Gauthier, who is in a wheelchair, says she has been made to feel like a second-class citizen and is calling on the provincial government to reduce the barriers women who use wheelchairs face when accessing mammograms.
“I’m a second-class citizen, really, and that sometimes I’m even wondering, is that why they adopted the [l’aide médicale à mourir]?” said Gauthier.
It started in 2014, Gauthier who lives with multiple sclerosis (MS), says she went to get a mammogram. What was supposed to be a simple procedure turned out to be difficult.
“[They kept] asking me, I don’t know how many times, you’re sure you cannot stand up more, couple of seconds more? No, I was not able to,” said Gauthier.
Her experienced inspired her to create Regroupement des activistes pour l’inclusion au Québec (RAPLIQ). According to a recent report by the group, nearly half of the breast cancer screening clinics designated by Quebec refuse to administer mammograms to women in wheelchairs.
“They don’t give a damn about us,” said Gauthier.
Gauthier says she sent the results to Health Minister Christian Dubé and Seniors Minister Sonia Bélanger but did not hear back.
“We want to have a quick meeting with them as soon as possible,” said Gauthier.
CityNews also reached out to the offices of Minister Dubé and Minister Bélanger for comment, but did not hear back.
But in a statement to CityNews from the Ministry of Health and Social Services reads in part, “We deplore these situations of access problems and are very sensitive to access to mammograms, regardless of the clientele […] All mammography devices in Quebec can be adjusted to the height of a wheelchair, provided that the wheelchair’s arms are removable […] Since November 2017, interventions have been made by the MSSS with certain centres denounced by the Regroupement des activistes pour l’inclusion au Québec as not being adapted for people with reduced mobility. From that moment on, all centres concerned by the complaint were required to implement measures to adapt their mammography practices and services to disabled individuals.”
Gauthier says, the next step is filing a complaint with the Quebec Human Rights Commission.
“Please do something about that because it’s going to be, maybe it’s already too late for some of us,” said Gauthier.