A week after The Catholic Register revealed that pro-life advocate Alissa Golob went undercover while 22 weeks pregnant to test whether late-term abortions were accessible in Canada without medical justification, the national response continues to intensify, with a new twist: a fourth hidden-camera video that Golob says she is legally barred from releasing.
Golob, co-founder of RightNow, posed as an undecided pregnant woman in abortion facilities in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and Calgary in 2023. The Nov. 19 Register story detailed her conversations with counsellors and physicians who told her late-term abortions could be arranged at nearby hospitals, sometimes “up to 32 weeks,” without needing to provide medical reasons.
A screenshot from one of the undercover videos Alissa Golob recorded shows how visible her pregnancy was when she asked about getting a late-term abortion in four Canadian cities. (RightNow YouTube)
Staff described procedures as a “mini stillbirth,” advised her she could “expel the fetus in the car,” and said reasons such as already having two children or “not wanting to be pregnant” were acceptable.
Those recordings — three of which have now been released — directly contradict long-standing political claims that late-term abortions in Canada are only performed in cases of maternal health risk or severe fetal anomalies.
In an email interview with The B.C. Catholic, Golob said the reaction from Canadians has been more visceral than she expected.
The dominant response has been “overwhelming shock and horror from the average Canadian who didn’t think late-term abortions were possible,” she said.
Many who describe themselves as pro-choice wrote to her saying the recordings were disturbing and that unrestricted late-term abortion “just shouldn’t be allowed.”
By contrast, she said some abortion-rights advocates have reacted with confusion and contradiction. “They were basically trying to throw everything they could at it to see if anything would stick,” she said. “Some said the videos were lies, some said late-term abortions don’t happen — despite the videos proving otherwise.”
A screenshot from the video recorded at the Montreal clinic. (RightNow YouTube)
Golob said the most significant development since the Register story broke is her discovery that she cannot release the Calgary footage at all.
“Alberta, shockingly, has the most extreme and over-reaching bubble-zone legislation in the country,” she said. “Distributing any footage recorded in the bubble zone could result in a fine or jail time.”
She called the legislation “worse than Ontario and even Montreal,” meaning the fourth video will remain unreleased unless the province changes its law.
Although no physician has contacted her privately, Golob says some health-care professionals reacted strongly in group chats and medical forums.
“Doctors were trying to disprove that late-term abortions happen until others in the chat posted my undercover videos,” she said.
None of the clinics featured in the videos have issued public statements or responded to inquiries, she said. “They know they’ve been caught red-handed… there’s not much they can say to remedy the situation, so they say nothing at all.”
Abortion advocacy organizations, including Action Canada, have alleged the videos lack context.
Golob dismisses the charge. “Of course the videos were edited — sometimes I was in the clinics for hours,” she said, and “99 per cent of the talking” is by clinic staff.
She noted that if anything were manipulated, the clinics could sue her and “easily win.”
She has already shared the full recordings with reporters so they could verify that passages were not altered.
Conservative MPs including Leslyn Lewis, Rosemarie Falk and Garnett Genuis have shared the videos, as did PPC leader Maxime Bernier. Liberal MP Doug Eyolfson condemned them, drawing “surprising” pushback” from Canadians across party lines.
Golob said the recordings show that late-term abortion referrals are far easier to obtain than most Canadians assume.
“Abortionists have no problem and easily and readily refer you for a late-term abortion… for absolutely no reason whatsoever,” she said. Even an explanation as simple as “I don’t want to be pregnant” was treated as acceptable for a third-trimester referral.
Golob said one issue has been overlooked in the public debate: the reliability of Canadian abortion statistics.
“In multiple videos I was told that any end of pregnancy after 20 weeks — no matter how it happens — is considered a stillbirth,” she said. Combined with the fact that provinces report statistics voluntarily, she argues Canadians have no way of knowing how many late-term induction abortions actually occur. “We should be demanding to know how many… and why.”
For now, Golob says she has no further video releases planned unless Alberta changes its law. But she believes the Register’s original reporting has opened a door Canadians weren’t expecting.
“People are seeing something they were told for years was impossible — and they want answers.”
Screenshot from the Vancouver video in which Alissa Golob recorded her conversation with a health-care worker at BC Women’s Hospital. (RightNow YouTube)
‘There doesn’t have to be a reason’
The following transcript at B.C. Women’s Hospital has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity. The original meaning and sequence remain unchanged.
BC Women’s Hospital worker: “The gestational … duration of the pregnancy is 23 … weeks and 4 days. So here in B.C., the … dilation and evacuation procedure … or procedural abortion, is available up to 24 weeks and 6 days. I do know that this week is full and then next week is full.”
Patient: “Hmmm”
Worker: “In terms of … this particular procedure … this is probably the last like 3 days. That doesn’t mean that people still don’t have abortion options. People have the option of having a termination with an induction … abortion they call it. So, that means they actually induce labour in the body … and people can … have that choice and there’s a longer time frame for that option. People also have that option in certain clinics … that are safe.”
Patient: “Right?”
Worker: “Most of the provinces have an arrangement where people can get … essential health care in the States, and the medical care itself may be covered by their province.”
Patient: “So like the travel and all that would have to be …”
Worker: “Travel and accommodations, you can request funding from … the National Abortion Federation … the cost of the medical care itself is covered. So the closest to us here … is probably going to be in Seattle … a couple hours drive down … usually involves being there for 3 or so days. Colorado is another place … it will be like one day turn-around … but is possible. So I just don’t want you to think like, oh, I’m totally this or nothing … Any pregnancy that happens … abortion is always a possible outcome.”
Patient: “Can you tell the body part and stuff …”
Worker: “I would say that probably the doctor can. So at … 24-ish almost weeks … sometimes people think like it’s a whole baby that’s just smaller and smaller … It’s not exactly like that, but I would say there’s more … shapes that we would reassemble … like human or clear baby-like … shapes. So we would say at this … time about 60 per cent of unplanned pregnancies do not go forward. They do end in abortion because people are like, ‘It’s not the right time … I’m not ready … I already have kids’ … but there doesn’t have to be a reason. It could just be I don’t want to be pregnant.”
Patient: “I just feel like it’s so late …”
Worker: “If you were having this procedure at 16 weeks, 14 weeks even … the procedure is no different … the part that’s different is just the amount of cervical preparation … For a pregnancy to survive at this stage outside of the uterus is incredibly rare. With the induction process … that same medication that ends the pregnancy is given before. So … over 20 weeks, any type of end of pregnancy however it happens is considered a stillbirth.”
Patient: “Question about limits?”
Worker 2: “Canada doesn’t have a technical limit as to … a limit for abortion care … there can be induction options past … Ontario and maybe Quebec. Ontario definitely has a longer range … but in some cases because of limited capacity … they limit it … in our case it’s just B.C. residents … there’s just a limited staff. Sometimes you think I’ve got to know 100 per cent. But actually what in life do we know 100 per cent.”
Worker 2: “Here in B.C., the … dilation and evacuation procedure … is available up to 24 weeks and 6 days. I do know that this week is full and then next week is full. People have the option of … an induction abortion … and there’s a longer time frame for that option.”
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With Canadian Catholic News files
