More than 12,000 sign up for free prescription birth control

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 31/10/2024 (358 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Thousands of Manitobans have taken the province up on its offer of free prescription birth control since the program launched Oct. 1.

“In one month, 12,436 Manitobans signed up for free birth control with many more accessing it each and every day,” Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said in question period Thursday.

In its first month, it cost the province $743,528, a spokesperson for the minister said.

Providing free contraceptives to people who have no drug plan was an NDP campaign promise. Its first budget in April included $5 million to cover costs for the remainder of this fiscal year, until March 31, 2025.

The program is expected to cost $11 million a year.

Manitoba is covering the full cost of about 60 common prescription birth-control methods, including the pill, intrauterine devices (IUDs), and hormone injections and implants. The morning-after pill, which is available without a prescription, is not on the list.

Some women use contraceptives to manage irregular and painful periods as well as acne.

“This investment gives folks the freedom to make the reproductive health choices that are the best for them… all while saving Manitobans hundreds of dollars every single month and year,” the health minister said.

Manitoba is not the first province to roll out free prescription birth control.

British Columbia has provided it since April 1, 2023. In the first six months, that province of 5.6 million people reported that 166,000 women were prescribed free contraceptives. After eight months, the number grew to 188,000. B.C. budgeted $119 million over three years to allow full coverage.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca