The Alberta NDP have pitched covering birth control and the United Conservatives want to talk about covering in vitro fertilization.
EDMONTON—When it comes to babies, there’s sort of two paths: try to have them or try not to have them.
Then, on Monday during question period, the New Democrats asked Premier Danielle Smith for her thoughts on the plan. Smith said it sparked a chat among her United Conservatives about what they “might want to fund.” The Alberta NDP has a strong record for supporting women in the province, said Thomas. While in government, it created a ministry dedicated to women and made sure abortion medication was covered by the province.In 2012, a staffer with the then-governing Progressive Conservatives tweeted that Smith, who was leader of the Wildrose in Opposition at the time, didn’t have children and so didn’t seem genuinely committed to families.
British Columbia unveiled its three-year contraception coverage plan this month. It would see prescription birth control pills, IUDs, Plan B and other methods covered to the tune of $119 million over that time. Michelle Chidley spent $30,000 having her two kids — and she says she’s one of the lucky ones. Now an Alberta-based advocate for fertility treatment coverage, she said any policy on IVF that’s brought forward needs to be inclusive “of all of the ways that families are created these days” and that it should consider surrogacy coverage, which can cost people between $80,000 and $100,000.
Advocates point out that it isn’t uncommon for some people to relocate away from provinces like Alberta that don’t offer coverage to provinces that do, like Ontario. Nova Scotia has a similar plan to Manitoba and recently extended its plan to surrogacy. In Quebec, one IVF cycle is funded along with medications and storage of embryos.