The U.S. government eased restrictions on abortion pills.
The U.S. government on Thursday permanently eased some restrictions on abortion pills used to terminate early pregnancies. They allow the drug to be sent by mail rather than requiring it to be dispensed in person.
The decision by the Food and Drug Administration comes as the right to obtain an abortion, established in the 1973 Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade, hangs in the balance.
The medication, generically known as mifepristone, is approved for use up to 10 weeks of pregnancy and is sometimes prescribed to treat women with miscarriages.
The restrictions on the pill had been in place since the FDA approved the drug in 2000 and were lifted temporarily by the government earlier this year due to the pandemic.
That enabled women to consult healthcare providers by telemedicine and receive the pills by mail. The FDAFDA’scision makes that temporary change permanent.
As a result of the FDA rule change, many patients will not need to go to a clinic, medical office, or hospital in person to receive the medication.
Still, they can opt to receive the pill through the mail from a certified prescriber or pharmacy.
The decision will increase access to medication abortion for women in remote and rural areas without providers nearby.
Low-income women who face obstacles reaching clinics such as lack of transportation and inability to take time off work will also gain greater access to the drug.
However, 19 states, including Texas, have laws that supersede the FDA decision by barring telehealth consultations or mailing abortion pills.
As a result, women in those states would not use the rule change at home. Still, they could potentially travel to other states to obtain medication abortion.
States such as California and New York that have sought to strengthen access to abortion may make the drug available to women from other states.
The change is likely to add to the intense U.S. political debate over abortion. Conservative Supreme Court justices indicated on Dec. 1 oral arguments over an abortion ban in Mississippi at 15-weeks of pregnancy that they are open to either gutting Roe or overturning it entirely. A decision is due by the end of June.
The Charlotte Lozier Institute and Susan B. Anthony List, which advocates against abortion, said that the FDA decision ignored data on complications and put women at risk.
The groups called on the FDA to restore the in-person dispensing requirement and add restrictions.
FDA records show that of the 3.7 million women who took Mifeprex, the branded version of the drug, to terminate a pregnancy between September 2000 and December 2018, 24 died from complications.
Eric is a professional news editor, writer, and blogger for the last 10 years. He is working with NewsGater as an off-beat news editor cum writer.