The Mifegymiso pill can terminate pregnancies up to nine weeks and now the GNWT will pay for prescriptions if a patient is not covered by their own insurance or health benefits. Access outside regional centres is still limited due to insufficient diagnostic capabilities. 

Yellowknife Centre MLA Julie Green asked Health and Social Services Minister Glen Abernethy to report progress on the department's assessment of whether it can extend full coverage of the Mifegymiso pill.

Abernethy gave his department a directive to bring in interim measures to cover the cost of the medication, which uses mifepristone and misoprostol to terminate a pregnancy, he told Green in the Legislative Assembly on Nov. 1 .

The cost of the series of pills is between $300 and $450, depending on the provider, making it cost-prohibitive for many women, states Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights on its website.

A single prescription costs roughly a quarter of what the average Yellowknifer pays monthly for a one-bedroom apartment.

The Yukon government announced it too would cover the abortion pill, only a day earlier in its legislative assembly.

Eight provinces have universal cost coverage programs that allow clients to access Mifegymiso for free by presenting a health card.

After New Brunswick instituted universal coverage, the number of surgical abortions fell and the number of terminated pregnancies rose, according to the New Brunswick Department of Health.

"Universal coverage is now universal not determined by economics," said Green in a tweet Nov. 1.

The pill is offered in Yellowknife, Inuvik, Fort Smith and Hay River through the Northern Options for Women (NOW) program.

In August, the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority told News/North the authority is monitoring use of the pill in the NWT SA国际影视传媒渢o determine whether expansion of use would be both safe and appropriate,SA国际影视传媒� said NTHSSA spokesperson, David Maguire.

To obtain a prescription, an ultrasound is required to ensure the fetus is under 63 days old and there are financial limitations to offering the service, including the cost of installing ultrasound equipment SA国际影视传媒� between $20,000 and $50,000 SA国际影视传媒� and staff training and hiring, stated Maguire.

Remote communities await access

Although low-income workers in places like Yellowknife and Fort Smith will have access to the pill, there is still restricted access outside regional centres.

There has been progress but "not enough," said Abernethy, adding there are technical challenges, namely around the required ultrasound diagnostics that must be available before the pill can be prescribed.

Abernethy has also directed the health department to assess extending prescriptions for patients outside regional centres "in the life of this government," he said.

In November 2017, the federal government eased restrictions on prescribing Mifegymiso, extending the term limit for prescribing the pill to nine weeks of pregnancy from seven weeks, and loosening restrictions for prescribing practices, allowing pharmacists or a prescribing health professional to dispense the pills directly to patients.