Canada Death Watch

The following news story strikes me as a very disturbing sign for the future of Canadian democracy:

“Manitoba must pay for private abortions, judge rules

Fri, 24 Dec 2004 13:59:24 EST - CBC

WINNIPEG - Manitoba violated the rights of two women who paid for private abortions, a court in the province has ruled, opening up the possibility that others who paid for private medical procedures could sue for compensation.

A Court of Queen's Bench judge ruled on Thursday that the province's funding system violated Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms because the women felt they had to pay for a medically necessary procedure.
Justice Jeffrey Oliphant ruled that the province must pay for all therapeutic abortions.

The women had each tried to get an abortion in a publicly funded facility, but faced significant delays that they felt would pose medical and psychological risks. Instead, they paid fees to have the procedures at a private clinic.

…’If it takes a shorter period of time to have a medical procedure at a private clinic than it would in a hospital, that may infringe on a person's charter rights,’ Wullum said.”


This seems to imply not only that a woman has a constitutional right to an abortion on demand, but even a constitutional right to have it paid for by others. This implies, for example, that a country like the US in which abortions are not publicly funded is violating human rights. I suppose American women can now apply for refugee status in Canada, should they be so moved.

It also amounts to taxation without representation for the Canadian public: they are legally obliged to pay for something, and have no say in the matter through their elected representatives.

It also not only defines abortion as medically necessary, but implies that it is medically necessary that it be performed without delay, and that the patient is the one to decide what sort of delay is tolerable. If this is applied to any other medical procedures, Medicare as a whole will surely become financially insupportable. Imagine if this principle is applied across the board—to such relative trivia as cancer treatment or organ transplants.

Do they really plan to keep this as a special privilege for women? But if they do not, Canadian democracy itself becomes unaffordable. What happens then?

The easiest constitutional route, ironically, is probably separation, province by province. Easier still (and financially viable) if this is followed quickly be assimilation to the US. And such a ruling as this gives the perfect justification in terms of liberal democratic principles and in terms of American traditions: taxation without representation.

Another example of the Canadian death wish?