ST. JOHN’S, Newfoundland, July 20, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – Women will be able to get the abortion pill for free in Newfoundland starting in September in a move pro-lifers are decrying as dangerous and a strain on the province’s healthcare system.
“This pill is dangerous,” said Patrick Hanlon, spokesman for Pro-Life NL. “Our healthcare system is already under great demand and the government should be investing in lifesaving processes rather than a dangerous pill that can harm women and kill babies.”
On Wednesday, the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador agreed to start paying for Mifegymiso, the abortion pill, starting Sept. 1.
It’s a pill even Planned Parenthood, the most well-known abortion mill organization in North America, recognizes as leading to possible complications that can be “very serious or even life-threatening.”
Mifegymiso comes with a long list of undesirable potential side effects for mothers. Those include blood clots in the uterus, excessive bleeding, pain, weakness, nausea, diarrhea, headaches, infection and allergic reactions to the medicine itself.
Women who take the abortion pill sometimes even repeat the process because Mifegymiso doesn’t always kill the unborn baby the first time.
But, at an average cost of $610, the abortion pill is cheaper than a surgical abortion in a Newfoundland hospital.
According to figures provided by the province’s Department of Health and Community Services, there were 995 unborn babies killed in abortions in Newfoundland and Labrador last year, all of them covered by the government’s Medical Care Plan.
While surgical abortions at the Athena Health Centre, formerly the Morgentaler Clinic, in St. John’s cost the government an average of $520, those in Newfoundland’s hospitals average $1,530, said a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Community Services.
That means that every abortion pill used by a mother to kill her unborn baby there saves the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador $920 compared to the cost of getting an abortion in a hospital.
Since the abortion pill scheme also asks insurance companies to pick up the first part of the tab for Mifegymiso, the savings realized appear at first glance to be even greater for the pro-abortion provincial government.
And abortionists were quick to praise the government for being “financially responsible” for paying for the abortion pill earlier this week.
“With this decision, no pregnant person will be out-of-pocket in accessing Mifegymiso,” said Rolanda Ryan, owner of the Athena Health Centre.
“In addition to full coverage for those without medical insurance, by utilizing private insurance in the way it is intended to be used, as a first payer, there will be recognized cost savings in that the government will not have to pick up the full cost of the pills for those who already pay insurance premiums,” she said. “Ultimately, the cost will be 100 per cent covered for all residents of the province.”
Don’t believe it, cautions Hanlon.
“It still requires a doctor’s referral. It still requires an ultrasound … I don’t see much benefit financially. And the life of women and children should not come down to dollars and cents,” he said.
The announced funding for the abortion pill did not come as a surprise to pro-lifers in Newfoundland since it was Premier Dwight Ball’s Liberal government that brought abortion clinic “bubble zone” legislation to the province.
Under that Access to Abortion Services Act, pro-lifers have to remain 50 metres away from properties on which abortion mills are located.
Despite that legislation, pro-lifers are still showing up almost every day near abortion mills in Newfoundland for prayer vigils. Hanlon said pro-lifers will continue to do that and will be lobbying the government to stop funding the abortion pill.
“We would like the government to reverse its decision and see some conscience rights for doctors and pharmacists,” he said. “If someone is uncomfortable prescribing this pill, they should be able to opt out.”
As ultrasounds and genetic testing increasingly show the unborn child is a human being, the pro-life movement gains popular support, said Hanlon.
“The pro-life movement in Newfoundland and Labrador is growing,” he said. “People are coming to the pro-life movement. They are coming to the realization that life is beautiful and needs to be protected. They are coming to the realization that a pre-born baby is a human life.”
Newfoundland and Labrador was the last Canadian province to announce its intention to fund the abortion pill. The province’s Health and Community Services Minister John Haggie considers that all Newfoundlanders are “entitled to abortion.”