The Globe and Mail reported that the Ontario government of Doug Ford will continue indefinitely a program put in place by Kathleen Wynne in December 2015, funding one full cycle of in vitro fertilization once per lifetime for women under 43 years of age experiencing fertility problems. Fertility clinics were pressuring the government to make the funding permanent; the $50 million annual program was set to expire this spring and while it had looked like the government would let the program slip into oblivion, it appears the decision was made at the last minute by bureaucrats within the Ministry of Health to continue it. At a time when Premier Doug Ford is looking for efficiencies, this seemed like easy savings. Quebec discontinued its IVF support program in 2015 after costs ballooned out of control to $70 million annually as the subsidized fertility treatment increased demand.
Tara Wood, a board member of the Conceivable Dreams fertility center, told the Globe, that with one in six couples having trouble with fertility, IVF is “not a nice to have, it’s a need to have” for many people.
We respectfully disagree. No one needs to have a baby and no one has a right to a child, let alone one created artificially. We understand that infertility is painful to couples trying to conceive, but IVF is not the answer. And certainly not on the taxpayers’ dime.
