Canada could supply US with abortion pills if courts ban it, official says
Ryan King
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If abortion drugs get banned in the United States, Canada “would work to provide” Americans access within the confines of the law, according to a top Canadian official.
“What concerns me … is where you see laws in states where they’re actually criminalizing women [who] cross state borders to access reproductive healthcare,” Families Minister Karina Gould told CTV.
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“And so, you know, we need to be very thoughtful about how we do this to make sure that we don’t further endanger, you know, American women who are seeking access to reproductive healthcare and services, as well as healthcare providers,” she added.
Earlier this month, a judge in Texas ruled to temporarily halt Food and Drug Administration approval of mifepristone, part of a two-drug regimen alongside misoprostol to induce abortion. United States District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk argued the FDA improperly expedited the process to “greenlight elective chemical abortions on a wide scale.”
On Friday, the Supreme Court halted the lower court ruling as higher courts continue to mull the case, preserving access to mifepristone for now. Medication abortion constitutes roughly half of the abortions nationally, according to the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion rights advocacy group.
Gould previously suggested last May that Americans could attain abortion in Canada if Roe v. Wade was overturned.
“I don’t see why we would not,” Gould contended at the time. “If they, people, come here and need access, certainly, you know, that’s a service that would be provided.”
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Abortion in Canada is generally less regulated than it is in the U.S. and available at later stages of pregnancy than in many states.
The 5th Circuit Court is currently contemplating the use of mifepristone. The Texas decision came shortly before a separate ruling out of Washington directly contradicting it.