Medication Abortion
Although the 5th Circuit Court’s decision does not go as far as anti-abortion advocates might have hoped, it is still a grave threat to abortion access.
The National Women’s Health Network applauds the Supreme Court for its decision to block the lower court’s ruling against Mifepristone, one of two medication abortion drugs, until the end of the legal proceedings.
Late last night, the FDA announced that, effective immediately, both medication abortion and miscarriage patients would be able to access mifepristone via delivery from their providers or through mail-order pharmacies. This tremendous victory will ensure that patients and providers are protected during the pandemic.
Safe and effective FDA-approved abortion pills (aka medication abortion) are now available by mail in several states — without an in-person clinic visit.
Last night, the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the U. S. Food and Drug Administration’s medically unjustified requirement that people travel to a certified facility simply to pick up abortion pills that they are then allowed to safely take at home.
The NWHN applauds the recent decision by District Court Judge Theodore Chuang to allow pregnant people to receive medication abortion care through telehealth, including receiving mifepristone through the mail.
Patients are turning to telehealth appointments and online pharmacies for routine medical care during the COVID-19 outbreak without having to leave their homes. But for most pregnant people seeking safe and effective abortion pills, the FDA has created a Byzantine set of rules that delay or block access to care.
The NWHN is calling on the FDA to lift politically motivated, medically unnecessary restrictions on the abortion pill right now and let pregnant people receive the abortion pill through the mail so that they can get the pill where they take the pill, at home.
The FDA says pregnant people can meet with their doctors remotely and have their abortion at home — but first, they must travel during a global pandemic just to pick up their pills.