A new medical centre is opening inside the former Morgentaler clinic in Fredericton and will once again be the only private abortion clinic in New Brunswick.

Clinic 554, which was formally announced on Friday, will offer various publicly funded health services, such as contraception, cancer screening and pregnancy options, such as emergency IUDs, prenatal care, but it will also perform abortions not covered by medicare.

A new health centre will open inside the former Morgentaler clinic in downtown Fredericton. Clinic 554 will offer health services such as contraception, cancer screening, prenatal care and abortions. (CBC) New Brunswick only pays for abortions if they are performed in one of two hospitals in the province.

Medical director Dr. Adrian Eoin Edgar said in a statement that Clinic 554, on Brunswick Street, will fill an important gap in the health system.

"We just wanted to do our part to contribute — to make sure all New Brunswickers have access to the same quality and range of health-care services other provinces have," Edgar said.

The new medical clinic is the result of a fundraising campaign led by Reproductive Justice New Brunswick and the Fredericton Youth Feminists that garnered more than $125,000.

The crowdfunding initiative started after the Morgentaler clinic announced it was closing.

Wendy Robbins, a longtime advocate for improving access to abortion services in New Brunswick, said there is a need for a private clinic to offer reproductive health services.

"I would assume there is a huge need for very progressive medical care being provided right here in New Brunswick, right here in the capital city," she said on Friday.

It's an achievement to get back to square one. It is an achievement to catch up to the 1980s. It is a very muted hallelujah. - Wendy Robbins

The health clinic will open in the "coming weeks."

It will also treat about 600 people without family doctors and "underserved communities," such as people newly infected with HIV or with sexually transmitted infections.

The Morgentaler clinic's decision to shut last year forced politicians to begin debating the provincial government's abortion policies. It thrust the topic of abortion into the discussion during the September election campaign.

Wendy Robbins, a longtime advocate for improving access to abortion services in New Brunswick, said there is a need for better health services in the province. (CBC) Brian Gallant's Liberals pledged to review the province's abortion rules, particularly the regulation that forced women to get two doctors to declare an abortion was medically necessary before it would be paid for in a public hospital.

That promise prompted Gallant to be the target of anti-abortion postcards in the final days of the campaign.

Gallant announced in November that the contentious regulation was being removed. Starting in January, abortions still must be performed in a hospital to be covered by medicare, but the so-called two-doctor rule has been lifted.

Hospitals in Bathurst and Moncton are currently the only facilities that perform abortions. It's unclear how many additional hospitals may provide the service.

That means a woman who wants to have the procedure may need to drive three or four hours, depending on where she lives in the province.

When the Liberal government changed the province's abortion policy, the rationale for restricting it being done in hospitals was because it would be treated like any other surgery.

Health minister responds

Health Minister Victor Boudreau said the government intends to keep that rule in place.

"Our government recently identified and eliminated the barriers in order to respect our legal obligations under the Supreme Court of Canada rulings and the Canada Health Act regarding a woman's right to choose," he said in a statement.

"As it stands, this procedure will be funded by medicare when done in a hospital like other insured services. Regional health authorities have been charged with increasing their capacity to provide this service in a timely and non-judgmental fashion."

Robbins described the new rules governing abortion services as a "partial victory."

"It's an achievement to get back to Square 1. It is an achievement to catch up to the 1980s. It is a very muted Hallelujah," she said.

"It is a hallelujah, but it is not where we wanted to be with a change of government."

The political fight is moving from eliminating the two-doctor rule to having medicare fund abortions performed in other settings outside of hospitals, such as community health centres, private clinics and doctors' offices.

Robbins said an abortion costs roughly $800 to be performed in a clinic. Meanwhile, the cost in a hospital is close to $2,000.

"A sheer economic argument is made for providing it in the least costly environment possible," she said.

"[Gallant's abortion policy change] got two