On Tuesday (3), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began allowing certified pharmacies to sell the abortion medication Mifepristone to individuals with a prescription.
The Mifepristone can be used alongside another medication, Misoprostol, to terminate a pregnancy. Previously, these pills could only be requested, prescribed, and distributed by a certified healthcare professional. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the FDA allowed the pills to be mailed.
“At a time when people across the country are struggling to access abortion care, this modification is extremely important to expand access to medication abortion services and will provide healthcare professionals with an additional method to offer their patients a safe and effective option for early abortion,” said Danco Laboratories, which markets the medication, in a statement.
State laws vary, but the medications can be taken up to 11 weeks after the first day of the last menstrual period. Telehealth prescriptions are an option in some states, or a person may travel to a state where abortion is legal to obtain the pills.
Medication abortion is used in more than half of abortions in the U.S., surpassing surgical procedures for the first time in 2020, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports the right to abortion.
The FDA’s decision comes days after a new legal opinion from the Department of Justice stated that federal law allows the U.S. Postal Service to deliver abortion medications—a measure that the Biden administration believes could help protect access to abortion in states that have enacted bans following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the law known as Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed the right to abortion for all individuals.
CVS and Walgreens, two of the largest pharmacy chains in the U.S., reported that they are evaluating the changes and requirements imposed by the FDA for the distribution of the abortion medication.