OTTAWA, Ontario (LifeSiteNews) — A Canadian bill providing “free” contraception to all Canadians has been called flawed by one the nation’s largest medical associations and filled with “several deficiencies.”
The Canadian Medical Association, as per Blacklock’s Reporter, said in a recent commentary that Bill C-64, also known as “An Act respecting pharmacare,” will only perpetuate “Canada’s fragmented approach to pharmaceutical purchasing which results in higher drug prices than in countries with universal public pharmacare systems.”
Bill C-64 was introduced by Canadian Minister of Health Mark Holland earlier this year and recently passed the House of Commons. It is now before Senate committees for review.
The bill will allow for “universal access to contraceptives,” including the “morning-after pill, a point that the Trudeau Liberals have made many times.
The bill, as observed by the Canadian Medical Association, calls to create a “Canadian Drug Agency” but does not provide any way to do this or give it any powers. The bill allows the federal government to spend at will by throwing money as it sees fit to fund contraceptives and other drugs. Also, Bill C-64 appears to interfere with private insurance coverage for drugs, which is a roadblock that must be looked at by the Senate committee, the Canadian Medical Association noted.
While C-64 calls for the cabinet to “work toward the implementation of national universal pharmacare,” there has been no deadline for when this will take place.
The Canadian Medical Association said the bill “will not give Canada the institutional capacity needed to fairly and efficiently provide universal access” to needed prescription medicines.
Most Canadians already have either drug coverage via their work or a provincial program.
Canadian Association of Retired Persons chief policy officer Bill VanGorder testified in May about the bill giving a warning that the “federal government’s proposal of a single public payer approach to deliver pharmacare because we fear this could crowd out private payers which currently cover the majority of Canadians.”
This could mean that Canadians could be forced to accept an insurance plan that covers contraception and abortion pills. Many Christian and Catholic organizations that provide insurance coverage opt out of this coverage.
Campaign Life Coalition, Canada’s top pro-life group, as reported by LifeSiteNews, said that Bill C-64 is nothing more than a plan to spread the “big lie” that women don’t have control over their fertility unless they are “popping” contraceptives.
Trudeau’s pharmacare bill also promotes the drugs for at-home, or chemical abortions, which are typically done through the ingestion of drugs like Mifegymiso. In January, CLC reported on a 19-year-old Canadian girl who died after taking Mifegymiso.
For Catholics, the Church’s teaching prohibiting the use of artificial contraception, including the morning-after pill and abortion-inducing drugs, has remained constant. The Catholic Church also proclaims that the right to life of every innocent person from conception to natural death is a truth knowable by reason and contained in the natural law.