{"id":443,"date":"2006-03-31T13:03:00","date_gmt":"2006-03-31T13:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/?p=443"},"modified":"2006-03-31T13:03:00","modified_gmt":"2006-03-31T13:03:00","slug":"speak-up-about-reproductive-technologies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/2006\/03\/31\/speak-up-about-reproductive-technologies\/","title":{"rendered":"Speak up about reproductive technologies"},"content":{"rendered":"

My friend, fellow blogger and survivor of the IVF trenches Northern Mom <\/a>posted this form letter from the Infertility Awareness Association of Canada <\/a>earlier this week, and I think it’s an excellent initiative. I’m embarrassed to say that my activism in the area of reproductive technologies has diminished considerably lately, but it’s still a cause I am passionate about.<\/p>\n

We have a new federal government now, and your Member of Parliament needs to hear that you care about these issues. Here’s the information from IAAC:

PLEASE WRITE A LETTER TO YOUR MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT TODAY!<\/p>\n

Our elected officials prefer to hear from us personally \u00e2\u20ac\u201c not in a form letter we might all agree to sign. To help you carry the message to Ottawa, select one or more of the recommended key messages listed below. Please feel free to put them in your own words \u00e2\u20ac\u201c or share your own experiences.<\/p>\n

To find your Member of Parliament using your postal code on line, go to: http:\/\/canada.gc.ca\/directories\/direct_e.html<\/a><\/p>\n

1. Children are Canada\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most valuable future resource. Previous governments have claimed to be concerned about our country\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s declining birth rate. Yet they have refused to provide crucial assistance for many Canadians who are committed to becoming parents.<\/p>\n

2. Nearly one Canadian couple in six experiences infertility problems. Infertility is not a choice. It is a medical condition. These couples need professional assistance in order to conceive. Yet today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most advanced assisted reproduction technologies (ART) remain beyond their financial means.<\/p>\n

3. The new government says that it will stand up for Canada by meeting the needs and interests of Canada\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s families. Mr. Harper\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s election platform declared that the family is the building block of society. What about standing up for Canadian couples who want to create their families, but can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t \u00e2\u20ac\u201c because they need medical assistance to do so \u00e2\u20ac\u201c assistance that is often beyond their private means.<\/p>\n

4. The new government is committed to relieving financial pressures on low-income and middle-income families bringing up children. It has promised to provide childcare money directly to parents. Will it also provide assistance to couples who want to create families but cannot, without financial access to assisted reproductive technologies?<\/p>\n

5. Restricting access to IVF compromises the fertility of women, causes immense financial hardship to couples requiring assisted conception treatments and makes IVF affordable for rich families only.<\/p>\n

6. Infertility problems also carry social and economic costs: lost working hours, poor productivity, psychological and psychiatric support to treat stress and depression, and marital breakdowns.<\/p>\n

7. The total cost of a refundable tax credit for IVF treatment would be $170 million for the entire country. This represents a little over one tenth of one percent of Canada\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s $130 billion estimated total health care spending in 2004.<\/p>\n

8. Since 1983, over 15,000 children have been born in Canada through assisted reproduction technologies. Today these children \u00e2\u20ac\u201c many of whom are now of voting age \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and their parents and extended families expect our political leaders to courageously and fairly address this important issue, so that all Canadians may share not only the costs but also the public benefits of IVF treatment.<\/p>\n

9. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Canada to take a major step forward in health and family policy by guaranteeing funded IVF treatment. I sincerely hope our country\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s infertile couples may rely on your support.<\/p>\n

Write to your province\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lawmakers too! Canada\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s provinces exercise primary control over health care. So please make sure that you also write to the Premier and members of your province\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s legislative assembly.<\/p>\n

To find your MLA you can search the Web at the following links:
Newfoundland and Labrador \u00e2\u20ac\u201c House of Assembly <\/a>
Prince Edward Island \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Legislative Assembly<\/a>
New Brunswick \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Legislative Assembly<\/a>
Nova Scotia \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Legislative Assembly<\/a>
Quebec \u00e2\u20ac\u201cAssembl\u00c3\u00a9e nationale (National Assembly)<\/a>
Manitoba\u00e2\u20ac\u201c Legislative Assembly <\/a>
Saskatchewan\u00e2\u20ac\u201c Legislative Assembly<\/a>
Alberta \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Legislative Assembly<\/a>
<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My friend, fellow blogger and survivor of the IVF trenches Northern Mom posted this form letter from the Infertility Awareness Association of Canada earlier this week, and I think it’s an excellent initiative. I’m embarrassed to say that my activism in the area of reproductive technologies has diminished considerably lately, but it’s still a cause … Continue reading “Speak up about reproductive technologies”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-infertility"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=443"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}