Abortion access in Ontario rose to over 90% after the pill was approved: study

A new study finds that access to abortion services expanded greatly in the five years after the abortion pill was approved and pharmacies began dispensing it in Ontario.

Research published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal this morning says that most people in Ontario did not have access to abortion services in 2017.

But they say access in urban and rural areas increased from 37 per cent in 2017 to 91 per cent in 2022.

Researchers peg that to eased regulations for pharmacists to dispense Mifegymiso, the brand name for a combination of two medications taken consecutively, mifepristone and misoprostol, approved by Health Canada in 2017.

Get weekly health news

Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday.

The study looked at population-based health administrative data from 2017 to 2022.

The study found the drug was used in 56 per cent of abortions in 2022, up from about eight per cent in 2017.

Lead author Laura Schummers says the study shows how access to abortion services has changed since the pill was approved.

The study also found that as access to the abortion pill increased, local access to surgical abortion services declined.

Schummers says that while medication abortion has improved access as a whole, access to surgical abortion should be preserved.

1:43
U.S. Supreme Court hears crucial abortion pill case