Canada – Rising use of abortion pill shifting the landscape, expert says

Medical abortions now outnumber surgical abortions 2-1 in province

Jacques Poitras · CBC News
May 31, 2023

The increased accessibility of the so-called "abortion pill" in New Brunswick is dramatically changing the reproductive-rights landscape and shifting the terms of the debate, according to an assistant professor at the University of New Brunswick.

Medical abortions, induced by medication, now outnumber surgical abortions by more than two to one, according to new provincial data collected by Martha Paynter, a teacher and researcher in the faculty of nursing.

Continued: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/abortion-pill-expert-1.6859533

31.05.2023

New Brunswick Abortion Care Network

How mifepristone became a target of the US anti-abortion movement

The abortion pill, first invented in 1980 in France, was slow to be accepted in the US. Now, it’s at the center of a major court fight

by Poppy Noor
Wed 17 May 2023

The future of mifepristone, a crucial abortion drug, is currently in question as US courts consider a challenge brought by anti-abortion groups. Considering medication is the most common US abortion method, it is the most significant reproductive rights case to make its way through the courts since Roe v Wade was overturned in 2022.

The groups suing the Food and Drug Administration over its approval of the drug claim that the drug poses a threat to women and girls – contrary to scientific consensus – and should never have been approved by the FDA more than two decades ago. The FDA vehemently stands by its approval of the pill, with the Biden administration emphasizing the agency’s rigorous safety reviews of the drug.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/16/how-mifepristone-became-a-target-of-the-us-anti-abortion-movement

17.05.2023

Commentary

abortion pills

Claude Evin

Food and Drug Administration

Health Canada issue public advisory for abortion, morning after pills sold on ‘Dr. Pooja’ websites

Tara De Boer
Tuesday, May 16

Health Canada put out an advisory on Tuesday warning against purchasing unauthorized prescription drugs from the website “Dr. Pooja,” which sells abortion and "morning after" pills.

The agency says Canadians should not buy or use any unauthorized health products from “Dr. Pooja” websites, as the drugs could be ineffective, expired, mislabelled, subject to recalls, or counterfeit versions of authorized products.

Continued: https://www.ctvnews.ca/mobile/health/health-canada-issue-public-advisory-for-abortion-morning-after-pills-sold-on-dr-pooja-websites-1.6401547

16.05.2023

unauthorized abortion pills

Canada

Health

Human Rights

USA – “It Was Really Empowering”—5 Women Reflect on Their Medication Abortion Experience

We can’t stress this enough: You can have a safe abortion at home.

Christen A. Johnson
MAY 10, 2023

Let’s talk about mifepristone, aka the hard-to-pronounce drug that when used in combination with other hard-to-pronounce drug misoprostol is actually extremely safe and effective at ending unwanted pregnancies in the privacy of your own home. You’ve probably seen mifepristone in the news recently. Why, you ask? Because certain members of the right wing are completely fixated on ruthlessly attacking reproductive rights and eliminating body autonomy in our country. Ah, I love it here.

Continued: https://www.cosmopolitan.com/lifestyle/a43193640/mail-order-abortion-pills/

How feminist groups in Mexico are aiding abortion seekers in the U.S.

“Getting abortion pills into the U.S. is not as much of a challenge as being safe online,” say abortion companions.

By LORENA RÍOS and DANIELA DIB
8 MAY 2023

Over the past 11 months, some members of Tijuana-based feminist organization Colectiva Bloodys y Projects have reported an increase in demand for their services. The organization provides information on at-home medical abortions and how to access medical abortion pills through platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Crystal P. Lira, an abortion assistant at Colectiva Bloodys y Projects, told Rest of World that the recent surge in demand, to a great extent, has come from people based in the U.S.

According to abortion assistants at organizations like Colectiva Bloodys, this uptick coincides with the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade last June, which had ended previous protections on abortion rights at the federal level. In 2021, Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to punish abortion as a crime. Verónica Cruz, director of abortion assistance organization Las Libres, told Rest of World her group was now dealing with 200 to 300 calls from the U.S. every day.

Continued: https://restofworld.org/2023/mexican-women-help-us-abortion-seekers/

USA – Lawyers suggest a way around abortion pill restrictions but doctors may be afraid to try it

Doctors can prescribe abortion pills off-label if courts impose restrictions. Will they?

By ALICE MIRANDA OLLSTEIN
04/24/2023

The Supreme Court’s Friday decision punts the fate of the abortion pill mifepristone back to lower courts — maintaining the current level of access for now but leaving in jeopardy the most common method of terminating a pregnancy.

Some legal experts have argued that doctors can circumvent a key piece of the restrictions lower courts may impose by prescribing the pill off label. But physicians say it’s not that simple, and focusing on that technicality misses the larger peril facing doctors who help patients have an abortion.

Continued: https://www.politico.com/news/2023/04/24/off-label-abortion-pill-prescribing-00093377

24.04.2023

News

abortion pills

American Medical Association

Center for Bioethics and Health Law

Physicians for Reproductive Health

United States

Human Rights

Law

Abortion pill maker sues FDA to preserve access

The lawsuit from GenBioPro, which makes the generic version of the drug, comes as SCOTUS action looms.

By ALICE MIRANDA OLLSTEIN
04/19/2023

The company that makes the generic version of a common abortion pill sued the FDA on Wednesday, hoping to bar the agency from rolling back access to the drug if the Supreme Court allows sweeping restrictions to take effect this week.

The challenge filed in federal court in Maryland, where the agency is headquartered, argues that if the FDA implements a court order suspending approval of the drug, mifepristone, it would be “depriving GenBioPro of its constitutional and statutory rights to market mifepristone without affording GenBioPro due process of law.”

Continued: https://www.politico.com/news/2023/04/19/abortion-pill-maker-sues-fda-to-preserve-access-00092810

19.04.2023

News

abortion pills

Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine

FDA

Food and Drug Administration

US Supreme Court upholds temporary access to abortion pill

Lower courts had issued restrictions on access to the abortion pill, used in about half of all US abortions.

19 Apr 2023

The United States Supreme Court has extended a temporary ruling that allows access to the abortion pill mifepristone, as anti-abortion rights groups seek to roll back approval for the medication, which is used in about half of all of the country’s abortions.

Wednesday’s decision by US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito puts the issue on hold for two additional days, until Friday at 11:59pm US Eastern time (03:59 GMT Saturday).

Continued: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/19/us-supreme-court-upholds-temporary-restrictions-on-abortion-pill

19.04.2023

France ‘risks’ abortion pill shortage as US stocks up amid legal battle

France risks shortages of abortion pills as US states build up stocks during an intensifying legal and political battle over reproductive rights, the country's gender equality authority has warned.

19/04/2023

France gets most of its abortion drugs from a largely US-owned manufacturer, and supplies are already under pressure from a shortage in raw materials.

In addition, US states "are building up stocks to mitigate a possible halt in production or sales of mifepristone and misoprostol," France's High Council for Equality between Men and Women (HCE) said Tuesday.

Continued: https://www.france24.com/en/france/20230419-france-risks-abortion-pill-shortage-as-us-stocks-up-amid-legal-battle

Mexican Activists Help US Women Get Abortion

April 11, 2023
by VOA

Marcela Castro’s office in Chihuahua is more than 150 kilometers from the United States-Mexico border. But the distance does not prevent her from assisting women in the U.S. to go around the recent bans on abortion, a medical procedure to end a pregnancy.

Castro and her coworkers work for Marea Verde Chihuahua. The organization of mostly volunteers has supported reproductive rights in northern Mexico since 2018. They provide virtual guidance and abortion pills for women who want to end a pregnancy on their own.

Continued: https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/mexican-activists-help-us-women-get-abortion/7034400.html