VICTORIA, British Columbia, March 24, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – British Columbia's health minister has come to the rescue of three abortion facilities after the BC College of Physicians and Surgeons reminded these facilities last week that their partial exemption from accreditation fee increases was about to end.
Two Vancouver-area facilities and one Victoria abortion clinic had threatened that the extra $9,000 they would have to pay next year might force them to reduce their “service levels.”
In response, British Columbia Liberal Health Minister Dr. Terry Lake confirmed on Friday that he had instructed the Vancouver Coastal and Vancouver Island health authorities to pay for the increased licensing fees, according to the Vancouver Sun.
The BC College of Physicians and Surgeons had issued a statement, quoted by the Sun on March 17, that it had given “therapeutic abortion clinics” partial exemptions from the accreditation fee increases it mandated in 2008 for private surgical and medical facilities.
Those exemptions are slated to expire April 1, and will bring the fees charged to “non-profit” abortion facilities in line with those charged to “for-profit” clinics.
“The new fee reflects the true cost of the service,” the college stated. “According to a college board policy in place for several years, the subsidy cannot continue.”
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Provincial NDP Health critic Maurine Karagianis blasted the BC College of Physicians and Surgeons for wanting to charge abortion clinics “the true cost of the service,” saying it's “not fair” that the college should treat non-profit “women’s health clinics” the same way it treats for-profit surgical centres.
In reaction to Minister Lake's announcement, Karagianis said, “I’m very excited the minister has stepped up and addressed this issue of new fees for abortion clinics,” according to the Sun.
While no level of government in Canada releases total cost figures for abortion, the national pro-life group Campaign Life Coalition estimates that Canadian taxpayers fund at least $80 million every year for the killing of children in the womb.
CLC also points out that over 96% of abortions are performed for convenience as a back-up birth control method, and are thus not medically necessary.
According to the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada, the average cost for an early surgical abortion at a clinic is about $500, while the cost for the same abortion at a hospital can exceed $1000.
Contact:
Hon. Dr. Terry Lake, BC Minister of Health
Room 337, Parliament Buildings
Victoria, BC V8V 1X4
Phone: 250 953-3547
Fax: 250 356-9587
[email protected]