From CBC News–Birth control will soon become free for all Manitobans with a prescription, the province announced Tuesday.
The announcement, made during Premier Wab Kinew’s Tuesday throne speech, makes good on an election promise the NDP campaigned on. The party previously pegged the cost to implement the universal coverage of select contraceptives at $11 million per year.
“Reproductive health care is a right. Our government will protect and affirm Manitobans’ right to access abortion services, protect abortion providers and make prescription birth control free,” said Tuesday’s speech, which was read by Lt.-Gov. Anita Neville in the legislature.
The NDP previously said the plan would include several prescription and over-the-counter birth control methods, including the morning-after pill, hormonal injections, copper and hormonal intrauterine devices and oral contraceptives, but not condoms.