Nurse practitioners in Sask. now able to prescribe abortion pill Mifegymiso

The regulatory body for licensed nursesThe Saskatchewan RegisteredNurses' Association (SRNA)announced last week it will allow nurse practitioners to prescribe the abortion pillMifegymiso.

Shipments of this pill first came to Saskatchewan in early 2017.

In November 2017, Health Canada opened up the definition of who could prescribe the two-step drug. The SRNAreviewed that decision and decided it was within the scope of practice of nurse practitioners.The interim executive director of the SRNA, Jayne NaylenHorbach, said this move will help improve access.

"It's also for us about responding to a need here in Saskatchewan and nurse practitioners have advocated to the SRNAfor the SRNAto enable prescribing to increase access," she said.

Horbachsaid that every decision the SRNAmakes isbased onevidence. Before allowing nurse practitioners to prescribe the drug, she said the organization reviewed legislation, checked in with Health Canada changes and also did an environmental scan.

She said that there are people in rural and northern parts of Saskatchewan that may not have had access to this kind of care before, but that she believes they should.

"It's important to support patients in this province," Horbachsaid."We believe that this initiative is in the public interest."