British Columbia will become the first province in Canada to make prescription contraception free for all its residents starting April 1.
The BC New Democratic Party’s promise ahead of the 2020 election was part of Finance Minister Katrine Conroy’s budget speech on Tuesday.
The new program, funded to the tune of $119 million over three years, will cover prescription birth control options, including most oral hormonal pills, birth control injections, copper and hormonal intrauterine devices, implants under -dermal, as well as Plan B, also known as the morning after pill.
Teale Phelps Bondaroff, chair of the AccessBC free prescription birth control campaign, points out that the policy is exactly what his organization has been calling for for years.
Mr Phelps Bondaroff says free prescription contraception improves health outcomes for infants and mothers, makes life more affordable and more equal. He expects it will also save the government millions of dollars each year.
A 2010 study estimated that paying for prescription birth control would save the BC government about $95 million a year through reduced abortions, prenatal visits and social supports.
Mr. Phelps Bondaroff says there is still work to be done to improve access to sexual and reproductive health care in general, but AccessBC members hope that British Columbia “will become a beacon of hope for the reproductive justice in Canada and North America”.
In her speech Tuesday, the finance minister said basic reproductive rights are too often under attack, but not in British Columbia.
Ms Conroy estimated that someone who spends $25 a month on birth control will save around $10,000 over their lifetime with the new program.
“It’s a victory for health and it’s a victory for gender equity in our province. And it was time,” she said.
“The days of passing these costs on to women, trans and non-binary people are coming to an end. »