By Gudrun Schultz
QUEBEC CITY, February 26, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Quebec is ready to begin payouts to the estimated 45,000 women who were charged supplementary fees by private clinics for abortions during 1999-2006, following the court decision last August that said abortion must be covered by Quebec health care in private clinics as well as hospitals.
Quebec Superior Court Justice Nicole Benard ordered the province to repay more an $13 million charged to women who had abortions outside of the province’s hospitals or CLSC clinics. Justice Benard ruled the women should not have been charged supplementary fees of $200 to $300 by the private clinics, since abortions are covered under the Quebec Health Insurance Act.
Quebec’s Regie de l’assurance maladie du Quebec ran advertisements in newspapers last Saturday to inform eligible women how to file claims, the Montreal Gazette reported Feb.25.
The Association for Access to Abortion launched the lawsuit against the province in 2002, representing pro-abortion lobby groups in Quebec—Dr. Henry Morgentaler is a member of the Association, as well. The Quebec government did not appeal the court-ordered payout, a failure Quebec pro-life workers said was an example of the disappointing record shown by the Quebec Liberals under Premier Jean Charest.
Luc Gagnon, leader of the provincial pro-life group Campagne Quebec Vie (Campaign Life Quebec), told LifeSiteNews.com last week he would like to see current Health Minister Philippe Couillard defeated in the upcoming provincial election, scheduled on March 26, 2007. for bringing late-term abortion to the province.
Gagnon said Couillard “has not helped at all in fostering the culture of life in Quebec,” and said the Minister “deserved to be defeated in his new riding of Jean Talon.”
See related LifeSiteNews coverage:
Pro-Life Leader Calls for Defeat of Health Minister for Bringing Late Term Abortion to Quebec
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/feb/07022206.html
Major Signs of Religious Revival Seen in France and Quebec
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/may/06052606.html