AM640 “Culture Wars” Debate: The public funding of In Vitro Fertilization

From radio in the morning to TV in the afternoon, this was an interesting day debating some hugely varied topics.

Motivated by the article Ontario couple childless while Quebec parents enjoy fully-funded IVF, Associate Pastor of Westminster Chapel Scott Mason and I debated the pros and cons of health care funding for in vitro fertilization (IVF) on the John Oakley Show on AM640.

My heart goes out to infertile couples that want nothing more than to bring life into the world, and should be given whatever tools are available to assist. Additionally, as is the case in Quebec, provincial funding for IVF would provide enhanced maternal health and possibly save money in the long run. By mandating that public clinics provide no more than a single embryo at a time, we can reduce multiple pregnancies that often lead to unfortunate and expensive complications.

We need of course to be aware of other competing priorities requiring funding with scarce resources in our health care budget, which include for example care for seniors through home care, transitional care and assisted living, proper funding to integrated family/community care clinics close to home, and support for long-term care facilities.  Many of these are detailed in our Green Party of Ontario platform on Promoting access to quality, sustainable health care close to home.

Naturally we also debated the larger topic of how best to encourage and support families, and we agreed that lowering income tax on families was critical (and I might add removing the controversial Ontario Health Premium).

In my next post, I’ll share some experiences on Sun TV debating religion in schools with the confrontational and challenging host of The Source Ezra Levant.