Last year, in a decision that saved the province more than $3 million a year, the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia ruled that in-vitro fertilization is not a medically necessary procedure and the provincial government is not required to pay for it.

In that 58-page ruling, Chief Justice Joseph Kennedy argued: "Courts should take care before interfering with an elected government's allocation of limited public funds for social programs or the medical profession's determination of health priorities."

The province was being sued by a Halifax physician and her husband, a lawyer with the Nova Scotia Department of Justice; he argued the case before the Supreme Court. The couple was seeking repayment of more than $22 000 spent outside the province to have intracytoplasmic sperm injection, a specialized procedure that involves injecting one sperm directly into an egg and implanting it. The Halifax couple has spent more than $40 000 in their efforts to have a child. They argued that the government's failure to fund in-vitro fertilization violated their rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Canada Health Act. In his final submission to the court, lawyer Alex Cameron said the hearts of infertile Canadians "are [being] broken" because of the failure to provide funding.

Nova Scotia covers only the cost of tests and doctors' fees incurred in arriving at a diagnosis of infertility. Ontario is the only province to cover the cost of in-vitro fertilization, and it does this only when a woman's fallopian tubes are blocked. In these cases, the government will pay for 3 attempts at conception.