Korea’s abortion pill plan faces fresh legal questions despite gov’t import clearance

The Legislation Ministry says its opinion allowed drug approval but did not determine whether medication abortion itself is lawful.

October 7, 2026

The legal interpretation that cleared the way for abortion pills in Korea did not decide whether ending a pregnancy itself is lawful, the Ministry of Government Legislation has told a lawmaker.
With no legal standard on abortion in place for seven years, there are questions over whether the government rushed to bring in the drug first.

In August, the Legislation Ministry answered a query from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on whether abortion pills could receive import approval before the Mother and Child Health Act, which sets out the limited cases in which doctors may perform abortions and covers only surgical procedures, is revised.

Continued: https://www.koreajoongangdaily.com/korea/koreas-abortion-pill-plan-faces-fresh-legal-questions-despite-govt-import-clearance/12907906

07.10.2026

News

abortion pills

Joo Jin-woo

Korean Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology

Lee Jae-kwan

Mifegymiso

Mifegyne

Ministry of Food and Drug Safety

Mother and Child Health Act

Quebec abortion pill prescriptions jump 80% as access barriers fall

Experts say pill is safer and more accessible

Rachel Watts · CBC News
Feb 12, 2026

Years after Quebec loosened restrictions on the medical abortion pill, the province saw nearly an 80 per cent increase in use in 2025, according to statistics from the Quebec public health insurance board, also known as RAMQ.

A total of 2,852 women were reimbursed for taking Mifegymiso last year, compared to 1,586 in 2024. The medication allows for people to have an abortion naturally, without the need for a surgical procedure.

Continued: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/abortion-pill-quebec-increase-9.7085201

12.02.2026

Quebec College of Physicians

Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada

Canada

Health

Study reveals uneven access to abortion pill mifepristone in British Columbia

Nov 7 2025

Most pharmacies in British Columbia can provide the abortion pill mifepristone within days, but uneven access still leaves some women facing barriers to this time-sensitive medication, according to new research.

The study, published Nov. 6 in JAMA Network Open, offers the first province-wide look at pharmacy-level access to mifepristone in B.C.

Continued: https://www.news-medical.net/news/20251107/Study-reveals-uneven-access-to-abortion-pill-mifepristone-in-British-Columbia.aspx

07.11.2025

Research

abortion pills

abortion pills at pharmacies

Dr. Elizabeth Nethery

She died of infection after an abortion. Now, her sister wants accountability

Investigations into Ontario woman’s treatment reveal missed red flags

The Globe and Mail (BC Edition)
27 Aug 2025

WENDY GLAUSER

From the moment Rheanna Laderoute was born, her older sister Kassandra Costabile doted on and protected her. Eight years younger, Ms. Laderoute was deeply empathetic, with a quiet grace and an offbeat sense of humour, Ms. Costabile recalls. And she remembers fondly how Ms. Laderoute could pull off silly sound effects and voices that no one else could – always making her laugh, even when she was upset.

Ms. Laderoute adored her older sister, too. Ms. Costabile once asked her sister why she would sometimes tell their mother about a relationship or school problem, but not her. “You’re the one I’m most fearful of disappointing,” Ms. Laderoute told her.

Continued: https://globe2go.pressreader.com/article/281487872460648 

5 years on, abortion pill Mifegymiso still stalled in Korea’s regulatory limbo

Yun-mi
2025.07.30

Five years have passed since the Constitutional Court ruled that the abortion law was unconstitutional, but abortion by medication remains in a legal gray area. Nothing shows this better than the failure to introduce the abortion pill Mifegymiso (mifepristone and misoprostol) into Korea due to legislative gaps.

“We need a legal basis to begin the approval process for Mifegymiso tablets. Currently, we cannot proceed with its substantive review due to a lack of such a basis,” an official at the Drug Approval Division of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) told journalists on Wednesday.

Continued: https://www.koreabiomed.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=28411

30.07.2025

News

abortion pills

Hyundai Pharm

Maternal and Child Health Act

Mifegymiso

mifepristone and misoprostol

Ministry of Food and Drug Safety

When it comes to women’s reproductive health, Canada is not the 51st state

April 11, 2025
By Laura Schummers and Wendy V. Norman

Voters who care about reproductive rights should be demanding clear positions from their candidates on protecting Canada’s legacy in reproductive health policy and access. As erosion of reproductive rights and freedoms unfolds rapidly across the U.S., this is not the time for complacency in Canada.

We shouldn’t assume that Canada will continue as a global leader in upholding reproductive rights and access.

Most Canadians have lived with evidence-based reproductive health policy for so long that they take it to be the global norm, but it is not. Since 1988, abortion has been legally recognized as a standard medical procedure in Canada, free from criminal laws that either protect or restrict it.

Continued: https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/when-it-comes-to-womens-reproductive-health-canada-is-not-the-51st-state/article_fc30cbbf-ec69-4d6d-9641-748c206bd942.html

11.04.2025

Opinion

abortion pills

barriers to abortion access

Access to abortion services in Ontario rose in five- year period after mifepristone arrival: study

The Globe and Mail (BC Edition)
7 Apr 2025
KRISTY KIRKUP, HEALTH REPORTER OTTAWA

Access to abortion services at the local level in Ontario substantially increased within a five-year period after a drug known as mifepristone became available for use in Canada in 2017, according to newly released findings.

A study published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal sheds light on how mifepristone dispensed by local pharmacies in the country’s most populous province changed access to services.

The drug, approved for use by Health Canada, blocks the hormone progesterone, which is needed for a pregnancy to continue. Cramping and bleeding then begins that empties the uterus. It is commonly dubbed the “abortion pill.”

Continued: https://globe2go.pressreader.com/article/281625311126579

07.04.2025

News

Research

abortion pill

Canadian Medical Association

Canada – Yukon woman shines light on the cracks in abortion access in the territory

Prohibitive costs, limited services, and stigma make obtaining abortion care challenging, say some physicians

Cali McTavish · CBC News
Mar 03, 2025

A Yukon woman is raising the alarm about the cost and difficulty of accessing abortion medication in the territory.

Jane Doe says she had to seek an abortion through the emergency room, because the Opal clinic — the territory's only dedicated abortion services provider — is only open one day a week, for four hours. Jane Doe is a pseudonym. CBC is not disclosing her identity for personal safety reasons.

That day, she says, she was left waiting, watching other patients come and go, until a female doctor was on shift — even though she hadn't asked to be seen by a female doctor.

Continued: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/yukon-woman-shines-light-on-the-cracks-in-abortion-access-in-the-territory-1.7472276

03.03.2025

Sigourny Whipple-Grantham

telemedicine abortion

Yukon abortion access

Yukon Status of Women Council

Yukon Strategy for Patient Oriented Research

Canada

Health

Human Rights

Canada – What is abortion access like in the NWT?

Emily Blake
Thursday November 28, 2024

While many people face challenges accessing healthcare in the North, advocates say a program is helping people access reproductive choice and abortion services in the NWT.

The Northern Options for Women (or Now) Program has existed for more than a decade.

The confidential program offers pregnancy options counselling, ultrasound evaluation, abortion services, prescriptions for birth control after abortions, and referral to other support services to people experiencing unwanted or abnormal pregnancies and miscarriages.

Continued: https://cabinradio.ca/212107/news/health/what-is-abortion-access-like-in-the-nwt/

Canadian non-profit that facilitates abortion pill access sees surge in U.S. requests

By Hannah Alberga, The Canadian Press
November 27, 2024

A Canadian non-profit that helps women obtain the abortion pill in countries with restrictions says it saw a fourfold increase in U.S. requests after the presidential election.

The majority of inquiries came from women who were not pregnant, suggesting many want the drug on hand in case they need it, says Venny Ala-Siurua, executive director of Women on Web.

Ala-Siurua, based in Montreal, says some women fear abortions could become illegal or harder to access in the U.S. after Donald Trump takes office.

Continued: https://toronto.citynews.ca/2024/11/27/canadian-non-profit-that-facilitates-abortion-pill-access-sees-surge-in-u-s-requests/