WINNIPEG – Winnipeg Centre MP Leah Gazan, the NDP’s critic for Women and Gender Equality, is reiterating Jagmeet Singh’s call on the Trudeau Liberals to cover contraception costs as part of the party’s push for a universal pharmacare framework.
“Contraceptives are an essential part of reproductive health for women and gender diverse people,” said Gazan. “The so-called feminist Liberals are all talk when it comes to women’s rights but, on their watch, the only abortion clinic in New Brunswick has been forced to close their doors. Now they have a chance to support women’s health by making contraception free but when they risk upsetting Big Pharma and big insurance companies, they fail to deliver on their promises to women.”
And Gazan says Poilievre’s Conservatives would be no better. “Across the country, Conservatives are pushing back-door legislation to limit human rights surrounding reproductive health and bodily autonomy. They have voted to cut funding for women’s shelters and we know they’d cut support for women’s health care.”
The coverage of contraception is one element of the universal pharmacare framework that the NDP is seeking to achieve as part of its confidence and supply agreement with the Liberals. New Democrats have been pushing for drug coverage to make Canadians healthier and help those struggling with the high cost-of-living.
“Because of the gender wage gap, women are often the most impacted by rising prices, especially women from Indigenous and racialized backgrounds,” says Gazan. “Eliminating the cost of contraception would be an important step for alleviating the struggles of people able to become pregnant. It is critical that the Liberals cooperate with this initiative.”