Interim Staff
The Ontario College of Pharmacists is calling for legislative changes so that pharmacists can dispense early abortifacients – commonly called “emergency contraception” or “the morning after pill.”
A pilot project that saw the medication dispensed through 40 Toronto-area pharmacies to 7,000 women ended last month, and the provincial ministry of health says it won’t make a decision on the matter until it reviews data from the project, which won’t be ready until June.
The pilot project was funded by the government’s Ontario Women’s Health Council.
For their part, project leaders suggest “women want this service,” but pro-life advocates note that early abortifacients not only end a nascent life, they also pose still-undetermined health risks to the mother.
Michael Izzotti, of Pharmacists for Life Canada, said that by having pharmacists distribute abortifacient pills without a doctor’s prescription, the government would merely be changing the method of abortion from surgical to chemical and turning pharmacists into the next generation of abortionists.
If Ontario accepts the pilot project’s authors’ suggestion that the morning-after pill be made easier to access, it will join B.C. and Quebec in allowing this abortifacient to be distributed without a doctor’s prescription.
