By Jonathon Van Maren
Canada’s provinces continue to succumb to demands to fund the abortion pill. This time, it is the North West Territories:
The territorial government will now fully cover Mifegymiso, a prescription drug known colloquially as the “abortion pill,” officials announced on Tuesday. The territorial government will now fully cover Mifegymiso, a prescription drug known colloquially as the “abortion pill,” officials announced.
Back in November, the NWT’s Department of Health and Social Services committed to funding the prescription for people who did not have insurance or government-sponsored health benefits.
Now, anyone with a valid NWT health care card who does not have full coverage for prescriptions under their insurance plan, or other programs, can get the total cost of Mifegymiso covered. In the NWT, a prescription for the two pills included, Mifepristone and Misoprostol, costs $486.
“The pharmacist will fill the prescription and bill your government/employer insurance,” explained the department. “The department will be sent an invoice for any outstanding amount that your insurance plan does not cover, or will invoice the entire amount if you do not have any insurance coverage at all.”
The territory is still developing a process to protect an individual’s privacy if they are under the plan of a parent or spouse. The prescription can be used to terminate pregnancies up to the point of nine weeks’ gestation.
In case you were wondering, that last line means that the government is still trying to figure out how they can provide abortions to mothers without the knowledge of the fathers and to children without the knowledge of the parents.
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One the education file, Jason Kenney is thus far keeping his promises. From Global News:
Alberta is overhauling its framework for grade-school education for the first time in a generation, but the Opposition says it’s just a cover to out gay kids and expose them to harm. A bill introduced Wednesday by Education Minister Adriana LaGrange is meant to replace the 31-year-old School Act and governs everything from school attendance to district boundaries and trustee voting.
“It’s a piece of legislation that’s been in the works for a long, long time,” LaGrange said prior to tabling the legislation “to modernize the education system.”
The proposed Bill 8 does not include existing legal protections passed by the former NDP government for gay-straight alliances in schools, also known as GSAs.
NDP Leader Rachel Notley said while the bill includes provisions for the alliances, it dilutes the rules to allow schools to delay setting up GSAs as well as gives them the opportunity to inform parents if their children join one. In question period, Notley accused LaGrange of bowing to her personal views and the socially conservative interests of the United Conservative party.
“You know (that) as many as half of (the provincial school) boards will abandon GSAs, and you’re OK with it, because your values are more important than the safety of those kids. Why not just admit it?” Notley asked LaGrange.
LaGrange replied that the bill has the strongest GSA protections in Canada and that the province is committed to an inclusive, non-bullying environment in all schools…The proposed legislation would allow parents to be told if not doing so would leave a child at risk of harm. LaGrange noted schools are also bound by privacy rules.
The bill is meant to replace Alberta’s 1988 School Act. A new Education Act was passed in the legislature in 2012, and amended in 2015, but was never proclaimed into law.
If anyone would like more information on this latest move by the UCP, check out ARPA Canada’s update, which comes with a few action items.
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It is summertime, which means that progressive politicians have begun their tiresome annual game of demanding that various leaders show up at various Pride Parades. While it would be nice if a politician could simply reply that he or she is not a fan of events where nudity, simulated sex acts, and bondage gear are common, at least most of Canada’s more prominent conservative leaders aren’t buckling this year. I was particularly worried about Jason Kenney after he hosted a Pride event for the first time in his entire career last year, but the Star is reporting that he will not be attending. Conservative leader Andrew Scheer will also not be attending again (Stephen Harper also never showed up at Pride, presumably because he was too dignified), but of course the Conservative Party’s liberal contingent will be well-represented by folks such as Lisa Raitt.
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After 46 years of supporting the Hyde Amendment, which bans federal funding for abortion, it took only 24 hours for Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden to change his mind under pressure. The radical fringe of the Democratic Party (which includes virtually all of the 2020 presidential candidates at the moment), have been targeting Biden’s more moderate record as he attempts to stay out of the spotlight and coast to the nomination with as little controversy as possible. But abortion activists and his far-left opponents demanded he get on board with the radical abortion agenda, and he promptly abandoned his entire voting record and four decades of consistency on that issue, noting at a DNC gala in Atlanta that “if I believe healthcare is a right as I do, I can no longer support an amendment that makes that right dependent” on a woman’s income.
He also said that the fastest way to protect transgender people from violence was to get Trump out of office, somehow managing to equate restrictions on military service with violent assault. It appears that within a couple of months, Joe Biden of a few years ago will not recognize Joe Biden, last-ditch-effort presidential candidate.
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For anyone interested, my book on The Culture War, which analyzes the journey our culture has taken from the way it was to the way it is and examines the Sexual Revolution, hook-up culture, the rise of the porn plague, abortion, commodity culture, euthanasia, and the gay rights movement, is available for sale here.