Wellness Within urges government of Nova Scotia implement universal contraception coverage
New British Columbia budget sparks renewed efforts to reduce sexual health barriers nationally
February 28, 2023 - For immediate release: Wellness Within is again urging the government of Nova Scotia to implement universal contraception coverage following the provincial budget released today in British Columbia which devotes $119 million to implement this policy, beginning this April 2023.
Tim Houston’s Conservatives in Nova Scotia campaigned on a single issue: health care. For hundreds of thousands of Nova Scotians with a uterus, contraception is a daily worry and expense. Providing free contraception for everyone will result in significant cost-savings and improvements in population health for the people of this province. Nova Scotia must continue to demonstrate public sector leadership in sexual health by committing to free contraception for all, as British Columbia has done.
Universal public coverage of birth control costs saves public money
Canada is one of the only countries with no universal access to contraception despite universal healthcare. This lack of public funding for contraception makes it costly and limiting, and further discriminates against people who can get pregnant, especially those living in rural areas and from marginalized communities.
Abortion services are publicly funded in Nova Scotia, making abortion the only recourse. The cost to Nova Scotia taxpayers for a procedural abortion costs roughly $2,000. Medication abortion pills (Mifegymiso), which have been publicly funded since 2017, cost $360. Universal funding of contraception will be even more cost-effective: An intrauterine device (IUD) that provides effective birth control for five years costs $400 and a monthly pack of birth control pills costs $30. Contraception is a wise investment.
What’s more, contraception does more than simply prevent pregnancy. Options such as IUDs can prevent menstruation offering a form of gender-affirming care, reducing anemia (low iron), and reducing employee and student absenteeism associated with menstrual pain. There are several ways in which access to contraception allows people to live full, empowered, healthy lives. Importantly, access to contraception is clearly a gender equity issue: continuing to burden half the population with this private cost is discriminatory.
Impact on Canadian youth
Recognizing the key role of contraception in healthy growth and development, the Canadian Pediatric Society recommends governments provide universal access to no-cost contraception to all youth under 25 (DiMeglio et al., 2019).
Currently, Nova Scotia has an inadequate approach to subsidizing private expenditure on contraception. People on income assistance, roughly 3% of the population, have prescriptions on the provincial formulary largely covered. The Family Pharmacare program, to which anyone can apply, has varying deductibles based on income, and is most useful for people experiencing chronic disease and high annual prescription expenditures, rather than young people needing help to prevent pregnancy. Youth rely on their parents’ private insurance, and end up facing violations of privacy, stigma, punishment, and unaffordable co-pays. Employment-linked private drug coverage is problematic because when you lose work, you lose the benefits. Further, the COVID-19 pandemic caused massive losses to the labour force, particularly among women.
About Wellness Within:
Wellness Within: An Organization for Health and Justice is a registered non-profit organization working for reproductive justice, prison abolition, and health equity in K'jipuktuk, Mi'kma'ki (Halifax, Nova Scotia). Wellness Within volunteers provide full spectrum doula support to pregnant people in prisons in Nova Scotia and experiencing criminalization in the community.
Contacts:
Dr. Martha Paynter, Wellness Within Director of Research
martha.paynter@gmail.com, 902-292-7082
Claire Rillie, Wellness Within Chair
crillie@gmail.com, 902-456-3807