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So-called 'abortion pill' can serve communities with fewer health services

Northwestern Ontario has not only the lowest population density of any region of the province. It also has the highest level of teenaged pregnancy.
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Registered nurse Tanelle Rabachuk with the Thunder Bay District Health Unit says RU-486 dubbed the "abortion pill" can serve communities in Northwestern Ontario without access to abortion services. (Jon Thompson, tbnewswatch.com)

Northwestern Ontario has not only the lowest population density of any region of the province. It also has the highest level of teenaged pregnancy. 

Those statistics in concert with Health Canada's legalization of RU-486, dubbed the "abortion pill," spell out an opportunity for the region, according to Thunder Bay Health Unit registered nurse Tanelle Rabachuk.

"In Northwestern Ontario, we have rural communities and northern communities and that's where we'll see the benefit," she said.

"Oftentimes, accessibility is the biggest problem where they don't have access to surgical abortions so this will give them an option for that."

Rabachuk added the drug will not require parental consent or surgery in hospital. 

Women can take RU-486, also known as Mifegymiso, to terminate a pregnancy up to seven weeks after fertilization.

The first medication stops production of progesterone, the hormone needed to sustain a fertilized egg in the womb. She would take a second medication two days later, which causes the uterus to contract and expells the fetus.

The abortion pill is sold in 55 countries and has been legal in France for 25 years. If taken properly within 49 days of insemination, the drug is proven to work 95 per cent effectively.

It will become available by prescription in the winter of 2016 but many aspects of the drug's delivery remain unclear.

Health Canada has not clarified whether doctors will be able to prescribe RU-486 or whether a woman will need a referral to an obstetrician. It's also unknown whether there will be health or age restrictions on women taking the medication.

According to Planned Parenthood, the medication can cost up to $800 in the United States but  provincial health and employment benefit plans will likely differ across the country.     





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