Canada – Why is this CAQ minister so determined to draft an abortion law nobody wants?

Women's health and legal experts agree Martine Biron is trying to fix something that isn't broken

Steve Rukavina · CBC News
Posted: Jun 28, 2023

Martine Biron, Quebec's minister responsible for the status of women, announced to the surprise of many in April that she wanted to enshrine in law a woman's right to abortion in Quebec.

The idea was surprising for many reasons. The CAQ government never campaigned on it and had never before mentioned it.

Continued: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/martine-biron-abortion-law-no-one-wants-1.6889888

Canada – Free, universal access to birth control a top goal for Ottawa researcher helming national gynecological society

The movement for improved access to contraception in Canada has been growing in recent years.

Elizabeth Payne
Jun 22, 2023

Ottawa obstetrician and researcher Dr. Amanda Black has big plans, and she will devote part of the next year to getting them moving. For one, she wants to see contraception offered to people at no cost across the country.

Black, who was recently elected president of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC) for a one-year term, says the issue has been well studied and research shows that when cost is removed as a barrier, patients are more likely to use longer-acting, more effective forms of contraception. Removing the cost, she said, helps improve choice.

Continued: https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/free-universal-access-to-birth-control-a-top-goal-for-ottawa-researcher-helming-national-gynecological-society

22.06.2023

Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada

Less than 2 in 10 Canadian women are very knowledgeable about their abortion options, according to Ipsos Survey

Canadian women have their say on abortion options, access and knowledge

POSTED ON MAY 24, 2023
Linepharma International

TORONTO, May 24, 2023 – Women’s reproductive rights, sexual health, and abortion are regular topics of discussion worldwide leading up to and since the overturn of Roe v. Wade in the United States in June 2022 ending a landmark ruling that protected the constitutional right to abortion in the US. When it comes to abortion access and freedom of choice, Canadian women are very clear that they want to make their own choice when it comes to reproductive rights.

Abortion is one of the most common healthcare needs in Canada, with an estimated one in three1 Canadian women having an abortion in their lifetime. Whether opting for a medication abortion, commonly referred to as the abortion pill (Mifegymiso) taken at home, which was approved in 2015, or a surgical abortion performed in a hospital or clinic setting, both options are safe, legal in Canada, and fully covered by provincial health care plans.

Continued: https://www.linepharma.com/less-than-2-in-10-canadian-women-are-very-knowledgeable-about-their-abortion-options-according-to-ipsos-survey/

How the COVID-19 pandemic has affected abortion care in Canada

January 5, 2022
Kate Wahl, Madeleine Ennis

Abortions are common and essential medical procedures; one in three women in Canada have an abortion in their lifetime. Access to this care helps people plan and space out their pregnancies, providing vital benefits to individuals, families and society.

Pandemic-related travel restrictions and facility closures initially jeopardized access to abortion care. However, the pandemic has also become a catalyst for more accessible ways to deliver abortion care, such as providing medical abortions, which are drug-induced rather than surgical, via telemedicine.

Continued: https://theconversation.com/how-the-covid-19-pandemic-has-affected-abortion-care-in-canada-168722

Health Canada deflects complaints about ads for ‘abortion-pill reversal’

Medical groups have condemned the treatment as unproven and potentially unsafe, but Alliance for Life argues there is good evidence reversal works and is safe

Tom Blackwell, National Post
Jul 07, 2021

Health Canada has essentially rejected two complaints about an anti-abortion group promoting a controversial process to “reverse” medical abortions, as the niche issue earns growing attention from both sides in the heated abortion debate.

The matter is one for provincial regulators to tackle, said federal officials this week after deciding to take no action on the advertising grievances.

Continued: https://nationalpost.com/health/health-canada-deflects-complaints-about-ads-for-abortion-pill-reversal

Canada doctors group breaks silence on “unproven” abortion ‘reversal’ treatment

openDemocracy’s investigation prompts Canada’s Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists to speak out against this controversial ‘treatment’

Joni Hess, Annie Burns-Pieper

26 March 2021

Canada’s national society of obstetricians and gynaecologists has issued a
statement warning that so-called ‘abortion pill reversal’ treatment is
“unproven” and can also cause “serious complications” for patients.

The statement – the first by a Canadian medical association to address this
topic – was issued in response to findings from an openDemocracy investigation that
reveals how this controversial ‘treatment’ is spreading from the US around the
world.

Continued: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/canada-doctors-group-breaks-silence-on-unproven-abortion-reversal-treatment/

Easing restrictions on abortion pill greatly improved access to care in Canada

UBC-led study offers lessons for other nations on deregulating mifepristone

UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, Research News
NEWS RELEASE 14-SEP-2020

Removing restrictions on how mifepristone--the medical abortion drug--can be prescribed and dispensed in Canada greatly improved access to abortion, especially in rural communities across the country.

That's one of
the key findings of new University of British Columbia-led research published
today in the Annals of Family Medicine.

Continued: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-09/uobc-ero090920.php

Ontario, New Brunswick violating Canada Health Act by forcing patients to pay for abortions: National Abortion Federation

Ontario, New Brunswick violating Canada Health Act by forcing patients to pay for abortions: National Abortion Federation

Carly Weeks, Health Reporter
Updated July 16, 2019

New Brunswick and Ontario are violating a federal health law by forcing patients to pay for their abortions, and Ottawa must act to remove those barriers, according to the head of the National Abortion Federation.

The New Brunswick government doesn’t pay for surgical abortions performed outside of hospitals, meaning patients at a private clinic in Fredericton must pay $700 to $850, according to the clinic website. The only other abortion clinics in New Brunswick are in Bathurst and Moncton. They are in hospitals and receive public funds, but are several hours from Fredericton by car. Many parts of the province have no abortion clinic nearby.

Continued: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-ontario-new-brunswick-violating-canada-health-act-by-forcing-patients/

Mifegymiso Can Be Prescribed Without An Ultrasound: Health Canada

Mifegymiso Can Be Prescribed Without An Ultrasound: Health Canada
"Health care practitioners across Canada have been asking for removal for this restriction."

By Maija Kappler
Apr 17, 2019

Canadian doctors are no longer required to perform an ultrasound before prescribing medicine that will end unwanted pregnancies. Experts say the change will eliminate a significant barrier to abortion access, particularly for women living in rural areas who often had to travel major distances or wait long periods of time before they could get ultrasounds.

Health Canada made the announcement that an ultrasound was no longer required before a doctor could prescribe Mifegymiso, the "abortion pill," in a press release on Tuesday.

Continued: https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2019/04/16/mifegymiso-health-canada_a_23712955/

Abortion-pill inequality: How access varies widely across Canada

Abortion-pill inequality: How access varies widely across Canada
Two years after Canadians got access to Mifegymiso, some regions have seen thousands of prescriptions, but others have had hardly any, according to figures obtained by The Globe and Mail. The numbers point to deeply rooted problems in regional abortion care

Carly Week
October 12, 2018

Women’s health advocates have hailed the abortion pill as the key to eliminating barriers to abortion in Canada because it can be prescribed by a family doctor and taken at home, no matter where a woman lives. Yet, nearly two years after Mifegymiso became available, many women still have to travel to abortion clinics, endure lengthy waits and pay out-of-pocket if they want to use it to end their pregnancies.

Prescribing data provided to The Globe and Mail show large regional disparities in access to the abortion pill, which the World Health Organization says is a safe and effective method of terminating pregnancies in the first nine weeks. In Manitoba, where nearly 4,000 abortions are performed every year, no prescriptions for Mifegymiso have been dispensed from retail pharmacies since it came on the market, according to the data. But in Ontario, which has about 40,000 abortions every year, more than 6,600 prescriptions were dispensed last year and this year, up to August, 2018.

Continued: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-abortion-pill-inequality-how-access-varies-widely-across-canada/