OTTAWA, December 14, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) — Health Canada has delayed the much-hyped abortion drug Mifegymiso from entering the Canadian market until sometime next year for reasons unknown.
Reports The Canadian Press:
The drug's Canadian distributor, Celopharma Inc., says it now expects to launch “some time in January.”
Company president Paula Tenenbaum gave few details in a terse email exchange but said it was related to “a change in manufacturing site.”
Health Canada approved the controversial abortion drug known as RU-486 last year after banning it in 2001 on account of a woman who died from septic shock during a Canadian trial of the chemical abortion two-drug combination.
A Mifegymiso abortion involves two drugs that make the pregnant mother’s body toxic to the new life already implanted and developing in her womb. Mifepristone, a synthetic steroid taken orally, blocks her hormone progesterone. This shuts down her pregnancy-sustaining mechanism with the result that the developing baby, deprived of necessary life-support, starves to death and becomes detached from her uterine wall. Misoprostol, given a day or so later, initiates powerful uterine contractions that cause the woman to expel her dead baby.
Health Canada has stipulated that the drug be given to women up to seven weeks pregnant, a decision being contended by abortion advocates who want a larger window of time for a pregnant mother to end the life of her child.
A preborn baby at seven weeks is about half an inch in size and has already developed a brain, internal organs, eyes, as well as arms and legs that have little buds of fingers and toes. The baby’s heart has already been beating for about three weeks.
Tenenbaum told The Canadian Press that Celopharma is working with Health Canada on a revised submission that would allow a pregnant mother to use the drug up to nine weeks after her last menstrual period.
A spokesman for Health Canada told The Canadian Press that while the federal agency cannot disclose the status of drug approval applications, it “firmly supports a woman's right to choose.”
“The department is committed to minimizing any undue delays in the review of any submission. Health Canada makes all drug approval decisions based on a detailed scientific review, and we continue to work with Celopharma on its application,” the spokesman said.
Despite Health Canada along with abortion advocates calling the abortion drug “safe,” it has been directly linked to the deaths of more than a dozen U.S. women and a number of women internationally (here, here, here, and here). Even though the drug is hailed as “safe” for the mother, pro-life advocates note how it is never “safe” for her pre-born child.
Abortion advocates are campaigning for the drug to be made available to women over the counter instead of being administered through a doctor, as Health Canada currently requires. It may be only a matter of time before the drug begins to claim the lives of unsuspecting Canadian women, especially those in rural areas where access to adequate emergency care may be severely limited.