Under the constitution, health care is a provincial responsibility. Provinces decide what services will be covered by the publicly funded health care system. If provinces want to receive funding from the federally-administered Canadian Health and Social Transfers, they do need to follow the guidelines of the Canada Health Act (CHA). All provinces do currently receive this funding and follow the guidelines. Under the CHA, provinces must fund "medically necessary services".

No court has ever ordered provinces to pay for all abortions. Courts in BC, Nova Scotia and Manitoba have objected to the procedure that the provincial governments have used to deny payments for some abortions but have not ordered provinces to pay for abortions.

McCourt Legal Summary (189k PDF)