Ultrasounds no longer required in Quebec before getting abortion pill
Ultrasounds no longer required in Quebec before getting abortion pill
A group of Quebec doctors has successfully pushed for a big change to how abortions are given in the province, widening access to abortions by medication.
Until now, Quebec has required patients to have ultrasounds before obtaining the two-pill regimen that induces a medical abortion.
In the rest of Canada, that measure was abandoned in 2019. But Quebec didn't follow suit until hundreds of doctors signed an open letter last week asking the rule to be changed in their province as well.
They requested the change from the Quebec College of Physicians, prompting a new policy in recent days, according to a statement from the college.
"In the last few days, the College has decided that this measure will be made permanent," the college's spokesperson, Leslie Labranche, told CTV News.
The ultrasound rule had already been made less strict -- it was no longer mandatory -- as a temporary measure in the pandemic, beginning in February 2021, she explained.
The Quebec doctor who reportedly spearheaded the open letter, which was signed by more than 300 physicians, is a young family doctor working on Rimouski, according to Quebec's health ministry's online listing for her.
IMPROVING ABORTION ACCESS
Dr. Dario Garcia, president of Quebec's association for obstetricians and gynecologists, said the change is an important step toward making abortions more accessible.
"Anything that gives our patients better access to care is something we'll always be happy about," he told CTV News.
He said ultrasound requirements for abortion pills create unnecessary barriers for those seeking to terminate a pregnancy -- especially in a health network that's already overwhelmed.
"It's really hard, nowadays especially, to get access to laboratory tests or imaging tests."
Waiting for an appointment can be risky when it comes to medical abortions, as the window of eligibility is only 63 days.
After that, patients are required to undergo more invasive procedures to end their pregnancies, he said.
SAFE WITHOUT AN ULTRASOUND
According to the latest research, it's safe to have a medical abortion without an ultrasound beforehand, Garcia explained.
In other words, whether or not a patient has an ultrasound, "it doesn't change the results."
Quebec doctors won't be barred altogether from doing ultrasounds before prescribing the pills; they'll simply have the option not to request one.
"Physicians must use their clinical judgment and decide on a case-by-case basis whether or not an ultrasound is necessary," Labranche said.
The ultrasound rule was meant to estimate the age of the fetus and verify that the pregnant person was still nine weeks along or less, the time during which the pills were originally meant to be used. An ultrasound could also show if the pregnancy was ectopic.
In 2019, when Health Canada decided to change the rule nationally, the agency said that after extensive research into how other countries were using the pills, called Mifegymiso, it decided it wasn't necessary to do the ultrasound and that the risks of doing it often outweighed the benefits.
Mifegymiso was approved for use in Canada in 2015.
'WE STILL HAVE WORK TO DO'
While Dr. Garcia applauds health authorities for making the change, he said there are still additional measures that should be taken to improve access even further.
In Quebec, general practitioners face "strict recommendations" and are required to undergo additional training in order to administer abortion pills.
"We still have work to do," he said -- work that includes making it easier for family doctors to prescribe the medication.
Convicted murderer Daniel Jolivet, in prison for the past 30 years, has maintained his innocence since the day he was arrested. W5 reviews the evidence he painstakingly assembled while behind bars. W5's documentary 'Buried Evidence' airs Saturday at 7 p.m. on CTV.
The massive white orb drifting across U.S. airspace has triggered a diplomatic maelstrom and is blowing up on social media. A look at what's known about the balloon crossing the U.S. and what isn't.
In the field of cancer treatment, nothing is more important than diagnosing and treating the problem as quickly as possible — but according to new survey data, about one in four Canadian cancer patients report that they are still experiencing cancelled or postponed appointments.
The oldest preserved vertebrate brain has been found in a 319-million-year-old fossilized fish skull that was removed from an English coal mine over a century ago.
A train derailment and resulting large fire prompted an evacuation order and a declaration of a state of emergency in an Ohio village near the Pennsylvania state line on Friday night, covering the area in billows of smoke lit orange by the flames below.
The suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that was found floating over sensitive military sites in the western United States had been tracked by Canada's government since last weekend as it passed through Canadian airspace, sources tell CTV News.
After being charged with speeding by a city-operated photo radar device, a Toronto family was able to successfully fight the charge in court largely due to one small detail.
Torontonians appear to be returning downtown in greater numbers but the pace of the city’s economic recovery still lags behind many other North American cities, a new study suggests.
With all of the Maritimes still under extreme cold warnings Saturday morning, more than 34,000 households and businesses are without power, as of 11 a.m.
In the field of cancer treatment, nothing is more important than diagnosing and treating the problem as quickly as possible — but according to new survey data, about one in four Canadian cancer patients report that they are still experiencing cancelled or postponed appointments.
The public is being asked to avoid the area of Sixth Avenue in Woodstock, Ont. on Friday afternoon due to an “active police investigation” following a grim discovery made by police.
An investigation that lasted almost two years has resulted in moose hunting violation convictions for six people and a lodge in Red Lake in northwestern Ontario.
Convicted murderer Daniel Jolivet, in prison for the past 30 years, has maintained his innocence since the day he was arrested. W5 reviews the evidence he painstakingly assembled while behind bars. W5's documentary 'Buried Evidence' airs Saturday at 7 p.m. on CTV.
Alberta's high court is being asked to overturn a review board decision relating to the stabbing deaths of five young people at a Calgary house party on the grounds the former provincial justice minister interfered.
The Lethbridge Hurricanes kept Connor Bedard off the scoresheet for the first time in 36 games, but it wasn't enough, as the 'Canes lost 3-2 to the Regina Pats Friday night.
Waterloo regional police issued a robbery warning Thursday evening after they said two convenience stores and a restaurant in Kitchener were robbed within a 30 minute span.
A man who took part in four traffic-stopping protests in Metro Vancouver in an effort to save old-growth forests has been given a conditional sentence and six months' probation by a provincial court judge.
The mayors of Port Coquitlam and Port Moody want Nav Canada — the organization that creates flight paths for airports across the country — to pause its plans for a new YVR arrivals route that will direct many large airplanes over their communities.
An Edmonton man who received a ticket from the city under the phase 2 residential parking ban earlier this week says his street has finally been plowed — five days after his vehicle was ticketed.
Marc, Seth and Zacary James are the Melisizwe Brothers, and they performed at Jasper Place High School on Friday as part of Edmonton Public School Black History Month celebrations.
Technology in Alberta that is expected to allow doctors to more accurately and effectively treat cancerous tumours with radiation enters clinical trials next week.
In the field of cancer treatment, nothing is more important than diagnosing and treating the problem as quickly as possible — but according to new survey data, about one in four Canadian cancer patients report that they are still experiencing cancelled or postponed appointments.
A River Canard, Ont. woman is on a mission to identify several unknown people in a handful of old photographs she said she found in a box inside her attic. She said she discovered the pictures and postcards while decluttering her home as part of her New Year’s resolution, noticing many date back to the mid 1940s.
Saskatchewan is reacting to the removal of controversial amendment G4 to Bill C-21 by the federal Liberals, which banned certain semi-automatic rifles and shotguns.
After months of driving around the city with an advertisement for a kidney donor on her bright red car, Debbie Onishenko will soon be able to rip off the decals as her search has ended.
