Quebec Petition for Free Birth Control Reaches Nearly 100K Signatures

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Facts

  • A petition calling on the Quebec government to offer free access to all forms of contraception gathered almost 100K signatures by the end of the signing period on Monday. Action was reportedly inspired by a perceived threat to reproductive rights following the recent US election.[1]
  • The petition, presented on Tuesday to the Red Room of the National Assembly by Québec Solidaire MNA Ruba Ghazal, calls on François Legault's government to create a program that allows for free access to all methods of contraception available in Quebec without exception.[2][1][3]
  • The petition — an initiative by sexual and reproductive health advocacy group Fédération du Québec pour le planning des naissances (FQPN) — went viral, with tens of thousands of people signing the document in the weeks after the US election.[3][1]
  • Though such a scheme could cost the province as much as $48M, the left-wing opposition party has argued that it would save Quebec as much as $71 million by preventing unplanned pregnancies. The petition states that as much as 40% of pregnancies in Canada are unplanned.[1]
  • Since British Columbia became the first Canadian province to offer free access to birth control last year, the Trudeau government has amended a law enabling different provinces and territories to determine whether to offer free access to contraceptives.[3][4][5]

Sources: [1]CBC, [2]Montreal, [3]Radio, [4]Canada.ca and [5]Lemonde.

Narratives

  • Right narrative, as provided by Radio. Any program to create universal free access to contraceptives in Quebec would likely be hugely expensive, as well as unnecessary. Many women in the country are already covered by insurance for the cost of contraceptives, and to use public money to provide contraceptives to women who are already covered would be nonsensical.
  • Left narrative, as provided by Pivot. The election of Donald Trump is a political turning point worldwide. Many people have become aware of what they perceive to be an attack on women's rights, making this petition a crucial development. The rights of women in Quebec must be protected, especially amid a rising threat of draconian Trumpist ideologies once again rising to major office in the developed world.

Predictions