New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench says Dr. Henry Morgentaler has the right to question the provincial government's payment policy.
New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench Judge Paulette Garnett
has ruled that Dr. Henry Morgentaler has the legal right to challenge the New Brunswick government's policy on abortion funding.
Morgentaler wants the provincial government to pay for abortions done at his private Fredericton clinic. At present, the women pay the $750 fee themselves, while the province only pays for abortions approved by two physicians and performed at an approved hospital.
The case first went to court in 2007,when the province tried to stop it by arguing that Morgentaler did not have the legal standing required to challenge the policy. The province's position was only a woman who had used the abortion clinic had the right to question the government's payment policy.
New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench Judge Paulette Garnett rejected the province's argument, saying Morgentaler has the legal right to take the case to court .
"There are many valid reasons why women who have had abortions at the Fredericton clinic would not or could not bring this challenge," Garnett ruled. "Dr. Morgentaler is therefore a suitable alternative person to do so."
"Dr. Morgentaler seems to have won on all counts," Rosella Melanson, executive director of the New Brunswick Advisory Council on the Status of Women said. "So finally, it will get to court, hopefully soon."
The government is reviewing Garnett's decision before deciding whether it will appeal
