Health Canada Further Increases Access to Early Medical Abortion

8 November 2017

Abortion was decriminalised in Canada. Health professional scope of practice regulation is now in the jurisdiction of the respective health professional regulatory colleges. In Ontario, nurse practitioners can prescribe and dispense mifepristone if they have undertaken the prescribed training programme. Health Canada has now removed all restrictions on distribution, prescription and dispensing of mifepristone in Canada, giving it federal regulations similar to other prescription drugs. This means women can collect both mifepristone and misoprostol from the pharmacy and take both at home, unsupervised.

More information is available at this Health Canada link: http://healthycanadians.gc.ca/recall-alert-rappel-avis/hc-sc/2017/65030a-eng.php

Kate Guthrie (BSACP Co-Chair)