It’s time for Alberta legislators to treat our money with respect
Did you know that Alberta taxpayers currently shell out over $13 million annually for the elective abortion procedure alone? That price tag excludes the cost of abortion complications such as perforations, sepsis, uterine hemorrhage, infertility, breast cancer, post- traumatic stress disorder and suicide. All these indirect costs could easily escalate the total cost of abortion in our health care system to hundreds of millions of dollars annually!
For $13 million per year, Alberta can hire 57 family doctors or 200 nurses in communities facing a dire shortage. Or purchase 9 life -saving MRI machines every year. Or provide crucial therapy to 167 additional autistic children each year. All these uses of taxpayer dollars would represent genuine health care… rather than killing babies.
It’s ludicrous to ask us to open up our wallets for these killings when the province is drowning in debt, and genuine areas of health care are neglected, such as treating autistic kids, fixing doctor and nurse shortages, improving elder care and buying MRI machines.
The Canada Health Act is federal law which requires provinces to fund “medically necessary” services, but it does not define abortion as being medically necessary.
When Alberta legislators deem an elective procedure as “not medically necessary” it does not get insured by the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan (AHCIP). As a result, it will not receive public funding.
For example, in 1984 Alberta MLAs delisted tubal ligations, vasectomies and mammoplasty from AHCIP coverage. In 1995, the Alberta government deemed physiotherapy, optometry exams and speech therapy to be “not medically necessary” and removed them from the list of services funded by taxpayers through AHCIP.
Therefore, it is clear that Alberta MLAs can easily delist abortion from the health insurance plan. What they lack is the political will and moral fortitude to do the right thing.
In almost all abortion cases, the life of the mother is not in danger. The simple truth is that more than 96% of the time, abortions today are performed for convenience, as a back-up birth control method. That’s clearly not a medical necessity and should not be funded as such.
On October 3, 2013, taxpayers will be gathering at the provincial legislature to demand that their elected representatives delist abortion from the services covered by taxpayers through Alberta’s health insurance plan.
This is a growing movement. The Defund Abortion campaign is happening nationally, with participation by 6 other provinces including Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Join this taxpayer liberation movement today!
Promote the rally
♦download a poster for your church or school: 8.5x11 or 11x17
♦download a 4-pg brochure to use as a handout, table-top display or bulletin insert
♦download a sample bulletin / pulpit announcement for your pastor
Join The Rally
10800 97 Ave NW, Edmonton, AB, T5K 0B7