The Canadian Politician Who Killed the Tampon Tax Wants to Make Birth Control Free

Hero politician Irene Mathyssen. Photo via CP

This post originally appeared on VICE Canada

The New Democratic Party of Canada (NDP) is trying to drum up support for a motion that, if adopted by the Liberals, would provide free prescription birth control to women and trans people.

After successfully pushing the Conservative government to remove the federal tax on tampons last year, NDP MP Irene Mathyssen is now setting her sights on the high cost of birth control.

"The onus for birth control is always placed on women, or most often, although some men do take responsibility for their fertility, but it still comes back to women most often," Mathyssen told VICE News. "And just like the tax on tampons, it's not particularly fair that , and the issue is exactly the same. We will have a large chunk of people who are opting for surgical abortion because they do not have access to the drugs."

The NDP will have to convince the Liberals to support Mathyssen's motion, but the MP says that won't be hard.

"He's a feminist isn't he?" she said of Justin Trudeau. "And isn't this 2016? It's time that we caught up with the clinical and medical needs of women."

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