RU-486 in Rural Communities

It’s been almost two years since Health Canada approved the use of RU-486. The so-called “morning after pill”. However, the drug is still not universally available across the country.
We Need a Law Director Mike Schouten says some provinces are struggling with the practical realities of introducing the drug into their health care systems:

“The provinces are grappling with the whole rural aspect (of this), because there are stipulations on RU-486. A woman needs an ultra-sound before receiving this abortion drug, and afterwards, there are often complications that will require a D-N-C or further ultrasound just to ensure that all fetal parts have been removed from the woman.”

Those services are not available in all rural communities and Schouten says governments are worried that they might “risk disaster coming upon one or more women.”

Some provinces, including Ontario, have announced full funding for the provision of the drug. However, Schouten says we should be keeping an eye on one particular province to see what they do with this issue. “Saskatchewan is the most pro-life province in Canada and they recently put forward a budget that had a lot of cuts in it, including to the health care field. And now, if they’re going to fund RU-486, that’s not going to play very well with their base. And it’s not going to sit very well with fiscal conservatives in that province.”

There’s no word on when the Saskatchewan government may make a decision on this issue.