A published report says Health Canada has approved the use of the abortion pill commonly known as RU-486.

The manufacturer, Linepharma International Ltd., was notified of the decision Wednesday.

The Huffington Post Canada quotes an unnamed government source as saying the drug — mifepristone — will only be available through doctors and will be sold under the brand name Mifegymiso.

RU-486 has been available for 25 years in France, where the drug was invented.

It has been available in Britain since 1991 and in the United States since 2000. Women in 57 countries have access to the drug.

A year-long clinical trial began in 2000 and examined two methods of chemically inducing abortion with RU-486 and the drug methotrexate.

Health Canada evaluates clinical trials “to ensure drugs used on Canadian patients do not present undue risk” and issues no other information on specific trials, a spokesperson told the Star in 2000.

RU-486 provides an alternative to surgical abortions and is for use only early in pregnancy — 49 days from the beginning of a woman’s last menstrual period — and requires three visits to a doctor to complete.

RU-486 works by stopping the production of progesterone, a hormone needed to implant and sustain a fertilized egg in the womb.

The pill must be taken no later than the seventh week after the start of a woman’s last period.

Two days after a woman has taken RU-486, she takes misoprostol, which causes the uterus to contract — causing miscarriage-like cramping and bleeding — to expel the fetus.

The drug is effective in 95 per cent of cases.

With Star files