Linepharma International recently cautioned customers to be prepared for an abortion pill shortage.
The anticipated shortage would last about two weeks, from Feb. 20 to March 6, 2023, they said.
Mifegymiso, also known as “the abortion pill,” is an abortion product that can be used until the ninth week of pregnancy, but no earlier than the fourth week.
The company announced on Drug Shortage Canada that supply chain issues including “delivery delays, manufacturing constraints, and lack of availability of active pharmaceutical ingredient” led to the shortage.
The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada said in a written statement that Linepharma International had reached out to distributors to make logistic arrangements to alleviate the situation.
Frederique Chabot, director of Health Promotion from Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights, said this showed the importance of strengthening the supply system which supports people’s access to abortion.
“Medical abortion has been a real revolution in making sure that people have access have abortion in our country,” Chabot said. “Any threats to supplies or any infrastructure that is missing for people to access it means we are going back to uneven access across the country.”
Chabot said barriers on abortion, which is a timely procedure, could bring devastating impacts.
She said it was possible that people would move out of the timeframe for the medication during the two-week shortage.
“The abortion pills can be used up to nine weeks of pregnancy, beyond that time, your options are really narrow,” Chabot said.
The alternative was to go to a clinic or hospital that offered surgical abortion, she said. However surgical abortion may not be available in some towns or communities.
Carolyn Egan, from Ontario Coalition for Abortion Clinics, said the shortage created a lot of distress.
Egan spoke with clinics over the past weeks, and they still have had a bit of backlog of the abortion pill.
“But I think the concern is what may happen in the future,” she said.
Egan said this type of abortion was the only procedure available for certain non-urban areas, which was a key issue.
“Even for those who live in urban areas, some prefer the medical abortion because it’s not done in the abortion clinic in the same way,” she said.
Egan said clinics were talking to Lineopharma outlining their needs and tried to secure supply of abortion pills.
“It’s not produced in this country, to my knowledge, we are all getting outside of our borders, so that becomes a concern obviously,” she said.
Chabot expressed similar concerns.
“There’s not much we can do aside from being very open with our communication,” she said.
She said the organization is helping people navigate the shortage by ensuring information transparency on what services are obtainable and how to access them.
Chabot said there was a very small quantity of Mifegymiso in locally, therefore Canada was vulnerable to shortages.
She said she hopes the government will introduce a national pharmaceutical program, so a larger quantity of medication will be available.