Are Reproductive Rights on the Ballot This Election?

Premier David Eby says women’s reproductive rights are on the ballot this election because he claims the Conservatives would cut $4.1 billion from the health-care budget, and that could impact free birth control, home cervical cancer screening tests and expanded gynecological cancer treatment and surgery.

Eby made the comment at a Vancouver campaign event on Sept. 12 where he announced hormone replacement therapy would be made free for people going through menopause.

Conservative Party of BC Leader John Rustad said the NDP claim is a lie and he “will increase health-care spending.”

Rustad has said that “under a BC Conservative government, access to abortion, contraception and other items will remain exactly as it is now. There will be no changes.”

But an NDP spokesperson said Rustad’s promise to allow free votes in his party, even on “controversial” issues, raises questions about that commitment.

Joyce Arthur, founder and executive director of the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada, agrees. Conservative MLAs could bring forward legislation that could reduce financial support for programs related to reproductive rights, such as free contraceptives or abortion access, she said.

The NDP said they were concerned by comments made by MLA Bruce Banman and Conservative candidates Harman Bhangu, Heather Maahs, John Koury and Bryan Breguet.

Banman won the approval of pro-life organization Campaign Life Coalition for saying motherhood begins “from the moment of conception” in May.

Bhangu is also endorsed by the Campaign Life Coalition based on a 2023 post to X in which he said he believes in “helping women in crisis and easing adoption. Also helping families to have children,” when asked about his views on abortion.

Maahs posted on Facebook that she was “pro-life, opposed to euthanasia, pro-pipelines, a card-carrying Conservative, and as has already been established, an unapologetic Christian,” and shared information about a 2021 gala hosted by Chilliwack Pro-Life, an organization that is opposed to both abortion and medical assistance in dying.

Koury also posted on Facebook in January and October 2019 where he repeated false claims that U.S. Democrats were allowing “full-term abortions moments before birth” and that abortion in Canada allows “late term abortion at will.”

Breguet posted on X that a woman with many tattoos and sexual partners would be more likely to have had abortions than children and that abortion should be discouraged but remain legal.

The Tyee contacted each candidate to ask if they would like to give context for their comments and to hear from them directly about their thoughts on abortion and reproductive rights.

Only Breguet responded with a statement. “I’m pro-choice and always have been,” he told The Tyee. He added that he is “genuinely in favour” of government-funded contraception, and that he supports “improving access to contraception and abortion wherever it is currently not accessible.”

“There shouldn't be inequalities with access to care based on where you live in the province,” Breguet added.

Breguet said his tweets reflect his view that “abortion should be ‘safe, legal and rare’” (quoting U.S. President Bill Clinton) but that access to abortion should not be limited.

Banman’s office declined to comment. Bhangu, Maahs and Koury did not respond by press time.

The state of reproductive rights in B.C.

Abortion is legal in Canada and, under the Canada Health Act, must be provided by the provinces and territories. A Conservative premier would not be able to ban abortion or make it illegal, but they could limit services by reducing or ending funding, Arthur told The Tyee.

Rustad’s assertion that there would be “no changes” in access to abortion and contraception was a “red flag” for Arthur and Teale Phelps Bondaroff, chair and co-founder of AccessBC, which advocates removing barriers around prescription contraception in B.C.

Both say B.C. has taken some great steps in favour of reproductive rights but add there’s a lot more work to be done.

There’s still stigma and taboo around sexual and reproductive health, a lack of access to accurate and judgment-free information and misogyny in the world, Phelps Bondaroff said.

“Saying we're not going to do anything to me is a huge red flag, because there's so much more work that needs to be done. We need leadership on reproductive health,” he said. “We don’t need people who are simply not wanting to talk about the topic and are content with the current situation.”

In B.C., “people can access Mifegymiso at their local pharmacy but there’s still a strong need for [surgical] abortions after nine weeks,” Arthur said.

Mifegymiso is a pill that can be taken during the first nine weeks of gestation to end a pregnancy. It’s been free in B.C. since 2018.

There is “a complete abortion desert in the Fraser Valley” despite its large population, and there’s a need for more hospitals to offer abortion services in northern B.C., Arthur added.

“There’s supposed to be [abortion services] in every community, but that doesn’t really happen,” she said. Outside of the Lower Mainland there are clinics in Kelowna and Victoria, but generally access to abortion services “requires people to travel, sometimes long distances or all the way to Vancouver,” Arthur said. “That’s really not acceptable.”

This can impact a person financially because they have to take time off work and pay for travel, and if they’re a parent, they may need to pay for child care during or after the procedure, Phelps Bondaroff said.

What the BC NDP have accomplished

Despite the work that still needs to be done, Phelps Bondaroff said, B.C. is a “leader” in reproductive health and reproductive justice because of work the BC NDP have done to fund free contraception, allow pharmacists to prescribe contraception and offer a free in vitro fertilization program, which will start in April 2025.

Reproductive justice is the ability to exercise reproductive autonomy, whether that means preventing pregnancy or having a child, he said. As well as access to abortions and contraceptives, it also includes access to judgment-free, up-to-date and accurate information about reproductive health, sex ed, child care and IVF treatments.

The BC NDP’s free contraceptives program was introduced in March 2023.

In the first 15 months of the program, patients accessed free contraceptives around 252,000 times, with 152,000 people getting hormonal pills, 48,200 getting hormonal IUDs, 9,500 getting hormonal injections, 7,500 getting copper IUDs and 2,000 getting a vaginal ring, according to recent reporting by the Martlet.

These numbers might capture patients more than once as they try different contraceptives to figure out what works best for them.

The program, funded with $119 million over three years, is cost-effective, according to calculations done by Dr. Wendy Norman, a professor at the University of British Columbia’s department of family practice in the faculty of medicine.

Norman compared what it costs the province to care for pregnant people up to six weeks postpartum and what it costs to offer free contraceptives to anyone who wants them and found B.C. saves $27 million annually in health-care costs by offering free contraceptives.

What advocates want to see next

To improve the program, Phelps Bondaroff said, AccessBC is asking the government to expand coverage so that a wider range of types and brands of contraceptives are available, increase the number of medical professionals trained in IUD and implant insertion, improve pain management during IUD insertion and further improve access by making some forms of contraceptives available over the counter.

AccessBC is asking for the birth control patch, Lo Loestrin Fe (a low-dose estrogen pill), Slynd (an estrogen-free pill) and Ella (an emergency contraceptive similar to Plan B but that works for a larger number of days and works for heavier people) to be made free too.

Around two million Canadians use prescription contraception to “manage very chronic and painful conditions” such as endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome, Phelps Bondaroff said. Others use it for hormonal acne, for gender-affirming care, to prevent against some forms of cancer and for menstrual regulation.

At the Sept. 12 campaign event in Vancouver, in addition to questioning the positions of some Conservative candidates, Eby said Rustad seemed unwilling to declare themselves as pro-choice.

Rustad did not respond to a request from The Tyee to discuss his stances on abortion access and free contraception.

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