How the latest U.S. abortion pill attacks may have ripple effects in Canada

Abortion rights advocates and experts say an ongoing challenge to medical abortion in the United States could have implications for Canada.

The escalation of attacks on access to abortion in the United States since the fall of Roe v. Wade last year should “spur” Canada to get its own house in order to provide safe and stable access, experts warn.

In a high-stakes case on Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an attempt by a lower court to restrict access to mifepristone, one of the two drugs used in the abortion pill. While the move preserves access to the drug that is used in more than half of all abortions in the U.S., the case has put the spotlight on the next chapter of attacks on access to abortion in that country.

The new line of attack comes less than a year after the Supreme Court’s conservative majority overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed more than a dozen states to effectively ban abortion outright.

Abortion rights advocates and experts in Canada say what is happening across the border could have implications here, with a rise in the spread of misinformation amid a growing anti-abortion movement.

“I think we should be very concerned about these legislations going forward, these regressive bans that really hurt abortion access in the United States to affect how abortion care will be done in Canada,” said Farrah Khan, executive director of Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights.

“This case is a direct attack on reproductive rights and will have devastating implications for pregnant people to be able to access support, access abortion care — and we should be very concerned about this,” she told Global News.

The most recent case stemmed from the decision of a federal judge in Texas to suspend the approval of mifepristone’s safety, done by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration two decades ago.

The drug, along with misoprostol, can be taken at home and together they form the two-drug combination known colloquially as the abortion pill.