The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
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 last week. 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."
