Canada rights group sues New Brunswick over abortion access News
Graham-H / Pixabay
Canada rights group sues New Brunswick over abortion access

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) has sued the province of New Brunswick over its refusal to fund abortions in private-practice clinics. The CCLA argued in its motion that New Brunswick’s failure to fund abortion services violated prior legal precedent and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. While New Brunswick does cover the cost of abortions in hospital settings, it is currently the only province that does not fund the procedure in private practice settings. Only three hospitals are allowed to provide abortion services in New Brunswick. The government has not offered any explanation for its refusal to cover the procedure and has taken no steps to comply with federal law.

The CCLA hopes to repeal the provision of provincial Regulation 84-20 that allows the provincial government to deny abortions funds in non-hospital settings. The CCLA formally notified the New Brunswick attorney general of the claim in November, stating that it would take legal action if the province did not repeal Regulation 84-20 within two weeks.

The federal government previously withheld $100,000 from the province for violating federal law for refusing to fund private-practice abortions, but later released the funds due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

New Brunswick has twenty days to respond to the notice of claim, which the CCLA filed Wednesday. If the province fails to respond, the court may rule in CCLA’s favor without ordering a trial.

THIS DAY @ LAW

UN General Assembly approves Palestine partition plan

The UN General Assembly approved UN Resolution Resolution 181 (II) on November 29, 1947, recommending that the British Mandate for Palestine be split into a Jewish state, an Arab state, and an international zone for Jerusalem. The vote in the assembly was 33 for to 13 against, with 10 abstentions. The resolution sparked a war between Palestinian Arabs and Jews in 1947 and a wider war after Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon invaded the new State of Israel in 1948. Read Resolution 181 (II).

UN divided Palestine between Arabs and Jews

On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly voted to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab territories, leading to the establishment of a Jewish state the following year. Read UN General Assembly Resolution 181.

Defense Secretary Robert McNamara resigns during Vietnam Conflict

On November 29, 1967, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara announced that he was resigning from his office to accept an appointment as head of the World Bank. The announcement came as the Vietnam Conflict was becoming increasingly unpopular in the United States and abroad.