Document Type

Working Paper

Publication Date

7-3-2014

Abstract

The Assisted Human Reproduction Act AHR Act came into effect in 2004 The AHR Act stipulates in s12 that no reimbursement of expenditures incurred in the course of donating gametes maintaining or transporting in vitro embryos or providing surrogacy services is permitted except in accordance with the regulations and with receipts Ten years later Health Canada still has not drafted the regulations governing reimbursement Section 12 is therefore still not in force Health Canada and others have asserted that there is a Health Canada policy on reimbursement and that reimbursement with receipts is legally permissible We dispute the existence of such a policy and its legitimacy if it exists We also challenge the decision by Health Canada not to produce regulations and thereby make it possible for Parliament to bring s12 into force This intentional lack of action is worrisome on at least two fronts First it sidesteps the processes required for regulations and thereby ducks the Parliamentary oversight very deliberately built into the AHR Act Second it leaves Canadians who provide and who access assisted human reproduction uncertain about what is and is not permitted and therefore fearful of or at risk of prosecution We conclude that Health Canada should take the steps necessary to put regulations in front of Parliament so that Parliament will then be able to pass regulations and bring s12 into force Canadians should demand no less

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