OTTAWA – “Contrary to political mythology, provincial and territorial governments make the determination as to whether or not to fund abortion procedures,” explains Faye Sonier, Legal Counsel for The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC).
“In response to some general confusion in regard to the subject of abortion funding, the EFC decided to undertake a study of the applicable laws and policies,” states EFC VP, General Legal Counsel Don Hutchinson. “The resulting report, Provincial Decisions: Abortion Funding in Canada, reveals that due to the broad jurisprudential definition of “medically necessary services” and the constitutionally granted jurisdiction of provinces over health care, provincial governments determine whether and when abortions are ‘medically necessary’ and as such, whether to fund them and in which circumstances.”
“There is a caveat,” elaborates Sonier. “If the federal Minister of Health concludes the Canada Health Act provisions should be interpreted in a way that requires full or partial funding of abortion procedures, and a province refuses to provide that funding, the federal government may choose to withhold some federal funding from its transfer payments. However, in the past, the sums withheld for abortion procedure related compliance issues have been insubstantial.”
“A great number of Canadians do not believe that tax dollars should fund any and every abortion,” concludes Hutchinson. “A 2010 Angus Reid Public Opinion poll found that only 44% of respondents felt that the ‘health care system should fund abortions whenever they are requested.’ However, 39% felt that the system should only pay for abortions in cases of medical emergencies and 10% said that abortions should not be funded at all. That’s 49%, half of Canadians disagree with taxpayer dollars providing unlimited abortion funding in Canadian hospitals and private medical clinics. Our review of the law and funding practices in this area suggests concerned Canadians are on solid ground in communicating their concerns to elected provincial representatives.”
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For more information or an interview contact:
Rick Hiemstra, Director of Media Relations
The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada
(613) 233-9868 x332
MediaRelations@theEFC.ca