Ottawa Refusing To Bow To Pressure to Designate Abortifacient Pills As Non-Prescription
OTTAWA, January 9, 2002 (LSN.ca) – Health Canada spokesman Ryan Baker reacted to press inquiries on the ethics of doctors skirting regulations on the abortifacient morning-after pill by handing out “just-in-case” prescriptions, saying “it is not appropriate for Health Canada to comment.” He said that the provinces have charge over the “practice of medicine” and thus must determine if it is “ethically sound” to allow the advance prescriptions.
Despite pressure from the Ontario Medical Association and other pro-abortion groups, Baker said Health Canada is not ready to designate the abortifacient drugs as non-prescription. “We have to see evidence that it can be safe enough that you can pick it up off a shelf like Sudafed,” Mr. Baker said. However Baker approved of the chicanery of provinces’ allowing pharmacists to “prescribe” the drugs. “Provinces and territories can determine who is a licensed practitioner, and that may include pharmacists,” he said.
See the coverage in the Globe and Mail: https://www.globeandmail.ca/servlet/GIS.Servlets.HTMLTemplate?tf=tgam/common/SearchFullStoryPrint.html&cf=tgam/common/GenericSearch.cfg&configFileLoc=tgam/config&encoded_keywords=morning-after&option={194}{164}t_row=3&start_row=3&num_rows=1&search_results_start=1 (with files from Pro-Life E-News)