Canada – Abortion expert urges Nova Scotia to drop ultrasound rule if access slowed

Abortion expert urges Nova Scotia to drop ultrasound rule if access slowed

Carly Weeks
Published September 26, 2018

The lead author of Canada’s national guidelines on drug-induced abortion says Nova Scotia should drop the practice of insisting on an ultrasound when it results in delays in providing the procedure.

The issue was raised this week after The Globe and Mail reported that Nova Scotia’s only abortion clinic is not allowed to perform ultrasounds to determine how far along a pregnancy is, leaving women to wait days or weeks for an appointment at the hospital’s diagnostic imaging unit. In an essay published Saturday, reporter Jessica Leeder outlined the challenges she faced earlier this year in obtaining a medical abortion. Ms. Leeder was told she would need to wait about two weeks for an ultrasound before a doctor could prescribe the abortion drug Mifegymiso. She eventually travelled out of province and paid out of pocket to have a timelier abortion.

Continued: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-abortion-expert-urges-nova-scotia-to-drop-ultrasound-rule-if-access/