Abortion drug could help women in rural N.L. avoid travel, but still not available

A drug that induces abortion and was approved by the federal government more than a year ago is still unavailable for women in Canada.

• RU-486 abortion pill approved by Health Canada

RU-486 is a drug that can terminate pregnancies less than seven weeks along, and has the potential to help women in rural areas who currently have to travel for the medical procedure. 

Rolanda Ryan is the owner of the Athena Health Centre in St. John's, the province's only free-standing abortion clinic.

She expected the drug to be available long before now and recently heard it could be available this month, but she isn't holding her breath.

"I'm not convinced November is going to happen, and NAF, which is National Abortion Federation, they're thinking it may be closer to January," Ryan told CBC Radio's Labrador Morning.

"And even then, I'm going to wait and see."

Many obstacles 

Ryan said there are several challenges, including a required six-hour course for doctors, designed by the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada.

Doctors have to choose to do this course if they want to be able to offer the drug to patients.

Certainly there's far more dangerous drugs out there that doctors prescribe and the patient just goes to the pharmacy and picks it up.- Rolanda Ryan

"If you're really pro-choice and pro-woman and a real advocate for women then you may take it on out of a sense of obligation to help," Ryan said.

"There is a lot of responsibility with it. So there would have to be some financial incentive with it, as well as some internal drive to be there to help women in need."

Another obstacle is access to ultrasounds — which are needed to ensure the pregnancy is 49 days or less — and the fact that regulations seem to suggest doctors, not pharmacists, will be the ones dispensing the drug.

"It's very unusual. Certainly most doctors aren't set up to order stock and maintain it and dispense like that ... and certainly there's far more dangerous drugs out there that doctors prescribe and the patient just goes to the pharmacy and picks it up and takes it," Ryan said.

"So this is kind of exceptional that this would be a regulation. But that's what's in the regulations now, that the doctor must dispense it. So it's going to be a bit complicated."

Cost of drug vs. cost of travel

While the drug could provide an alternative to travelling for an abortion, it might not be the best financial option for some women. 

"A lot of the women in Labrador are covered by various health plans," Ryan said.

"Some of the health plans allow for travel costs. So a lot of the women who come here [to St. John's], actually their travel is paid for by their various health plans."

The anticipated cost of the drug, $270 to $300, is another barrier, according to Ryan.

Some insurance companies may choose to cover the drug while others may not, Ryan said, adding that right now RU-486 is not covered by the province's public drug program.

So if a woman's travel costs are covered but the $300 for the drug is not, it might make more sense for her to travel, Ryan said.

Despite all the snags, Ryan said she believes the drug will eventually be available to women.

"Starting off I think it's going to be heavily regulated, and as it proves itself over time, some of the regulations may get softened," she said.

"I mean, it's been available for decades in other parts of the world, and it already has a proven track record. It's a safe way to have an abortion. But I think Canada is treading very carefully, and we'll all abide by that until such time they soften the regulations a little bit."