It is a right, not luxury: NDP promises free birth control ahead of provincial election

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This article was published 19/03/2023 (935 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Opposition NDP is offering free birth control to all Manitobans if the party is elected to form government when the provincial vote is held later this year.

The plan would cover the full cost of common methods such as oral contraceptives, copper and hormonal intrauterine devices (IUDs), hormonal injections and the morning-after pill.

It would cost $11 million a year to offer universal coverage for prescription contraceptives to Manitobans, including trans men and non-binary people, according to the NDP.

“Access to contraceptives is a basic human right, and should be easily accessible,” Nahanni Fontaine, the party’s status of women critic, said at a news conference Sunday. “By providing free birth control and removing the financial barrier, we are taking a gendered and human rights approach to sexual and reproductive health care.”

NDP health critic Uzoma Asagwara said universal coverage would remove financial and other barriers for thousands of Manitobans, with there being dozens of medical reasons why someone may be prescribed a contraceptive.

The Opposition said IUDs can cost as much as $380 and birth control pills $240 a year for people who don’t have health insurance or only have partial coverage.

Procedures such as vasectomies are covered by Manitoba Health.

Asagwara said people without insurance are often on low incomes.

They shouldn’t be forced to choose between taking birth control or paying a bill, the Union Station MLA said.

The Women’s Health Clinic in Winnipeg has a free contraceptive program for teenagers and adults.

According to the NDP, the financial savings to the health-care system would be significant if birth control was free to all.

Fontaine cited a 2015 study in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada, which said the annual cost of unintended pregnancies in Canada was more than $320 million.

The NDP’s pledge is its first related to health care ahead of the election, which is due to be held on or before Oct. 3. It is in step with promises by the NDP in other provinces.

B.C., which has an NDP government, on April 1 will become the first jurisdiction in Canada to make prescription contraceptives free to all residents.

Alberta’s Opposition NDP made a similar pledge March 8.

The federal NDP has lobbied for a national program.

Fontaine, the MLA for St. Johns, said the responsibility of managing reproductive health is not equally shared in society, with it often falling on women and people who are gender diverse to pay for birth control.

“Free birth control in Manitoba would mean that no matter where you live, what your income is or whether or not you have insurance, you will be able to access prescription contraceptives like the pill, IUDs, subdermal implants, the morning-after pill and others,” she said.

For those who use birth control pills, universal coverage would save them $10,000 over their lifetime, Fontaine estimated.

High costs, she said, force some people to go without birth control or choose the cheapest method instead of the most effective method.

“Money should not be a determining factor when it comes to our sexual and reproductive health options,” said Fontaine. “Free birth control fundamentally increases our ability for agency and full control and autonomy over our own bodies.”

According to the NDP, free birth control would make it easier for Manitobans to determine when they want to conceive, while also affecting personal health or housing decisions, or education and economic opportunities.

The party said barriers to birth control access put many young people at higher risk of unplanned pregnancies.

Birth Control Access Manitoba is lobbying the province to provide free birth control to all residents. The campaign mirrors a successful effort in B.C.

Group member Dr. Helen Pymar, an obstetric and gynecologist physician in Winnipeg, said Manitobans’ choices shouldn’t be limited by what they can afford.

“When patients can’t afford contraception, this leads to unplanned and unwanted pregnancies,” said Pymar, who attended the announcement at Scout Coffee + Tea in North Kildonan. “The health-care system still pays for this — they’re paying for it either with the delivery or with a medication or a procedural abortion.”

She said free contraception would help to reduce the number of visits to emergency rooms or other hospital departments.

Sunday’s news conference was held in Winnipeg’s Rossmere riding, a former stronghold the NDP is hoping to regain from the Progressive Conservatives.

NDP Leader Wab Kinew said the party will be ready if there is an early election.

“But, of course, if the vote happens on Oct. 3, then that’s more time to talk to Manitobans about announcements like the free birth control that we committed to today,” he said.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @chriskitching