Health Canada is moving to make the morning-after birth control pill available without a prescription in every part of the country.

To work, levonorgestrel, commonly called the morning-after pill, must be taken within 72 hours of intercourse. If used correctly, emergency contraception can cut the risk of pregnancy by as much as 89 per cent.

Pierre Pettigrew (file photo)
Pierre Pettigrew (file photo)

"Women facing an emergency need timely access to this type of therapy," Health Minister Pierre Pettigrew said in a statement Tuesday. "Making the drug available in pharmacies without a prescription will help women to prevent unwanted pregnancies."

British Columbia, Quebec and Saskatchewan already allow women to receive the emergency contraceptive directly from a pharmacist. Women in other provinces say they aren't always able to get a prescription soon enough, especially on weekends and holidays.

Under a proposed change to Canada's drug regulations, pharmacists would be allowed to sell a 0.75 milligram dose of the emergency contraceptive. Women will have to ask a pharmacist for the drug, but won't need a prescription.

Abby Lippman
Abby Lippman

Some women's health advocates are disappointed the drug won't be available over-the-counter like cold remedies.

"There are still barriers to a woman having access to the drug if she has to go through a pharmacist to have it," said Abby Lippman, co-chair of the Canadian Women's Health Network.

Emergency contraception uses the same hormones to prevent pregnancy as the ones used in regular birth control pills. It is not the same as the drug RU-486 which ends pregnancy.

"It prevents you from ovulating if you haven't already done so," said nurse Gail Neville of Planned Parenthood in Halifax. "It changes the lining of the uterus so that a fertilized egg would not be able to implant itself."

Two weeks ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Agency rejected an application to make emergency contraception available over-the-counter, saying there wasn't enough evidence the drug could be used safely by girls under 16.

"It further encourages risk-taking behavior and sexually transmitted diseases are going through the roof," said Dr. Delores Doherty of Canadian Physicians for Life in St. John's, Nfld.

Barring a change of government, Health Canada said the pills should be available from pharmacists in four to six months.