January 27, 2005
The Manitoba government will file an appeal in the Manitoba Court of Appeal in connection with a judgment delivered on Dec. 22 by Associate Chief Justice Jeffery Oliphant, a judgment that jeopardizes the province’s responsibility to determine the most effective and efficient way to deliver health care, Health Minister Tim Sale said today.
Associate Chief Justice Oliphant ruled that provincial regulations excluding abortions performed in a private clinic from funding eligibility violate certain Charter of Rights and Freedoms rights of women wishing to have an abortion. The effect of this decision goes far beyond the funding of abortions and suggests that everyone is constitutionally entitled to a health care service based upon the time of their choosing without regard to medical necessity, said Sale.
"Our decision to appeal is based on the need for all provincial governments to retain full control over their health budgets. This judgment has very serious potential implications for government decision-making in relation to health spending."
The minister noted the recent Supreme Court of Canada decision in Auton v. British Columbia suggests provinces have the right to set their own health-care priorities.
"Our priority in Manitoba is to continue to strengthen our publicly-funded health-care system," said Sale. "Evidence clearly illustrates that not-for-profit health care is a better value and opening the door to for-profit care leads to increased expenditures with no measurable effect on wait lists."
The minister said the decision to appeal will have no bearing on the availability of abortion services.
"As in the past, our government is committed to providing access to abortion services for those who need them," said Sale.
The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority has been funding abortions at Jane's Clinic since the summer and this will continue as it works towards implementing a broader women’s reproductive health strategy, added the minister.
Arguments are expected to be heard in the Manitoba Court of Appeal in the fall of 2005.
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