US health authorities said pharmacies will be allowed to sell abortion pills, a move that could dramatically expand the access to abortion After the Supreme Court annulled last year this right at the federal level.
The regulatory changes announced Tuesday by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mean that mifepristone, one of two drugs used by abortion clinics to terminate a pregnancy, is available at pharmacies in states where abortion is permitted.
A prescription will be needed to get the pills, which were previously only available at a few pharmacies through mail order or from certified doctors and clinics.
The demand for abortion pills it has risen since the conservative-dominated Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling last June that struck down the 1973 ruling in “Roe v. Wade” that had guaranteed women’s right to abortion for half a century.
Abortion pills are already used in more than half of American procedures to terminate a pregnancy, experts say, and have increasingly become the focus of the political and legal battle for abortion rights since the controversial decision of the Supreme Court.
Pharmacies will need certification to dispense the medication, while patients will need to fill out a consent form.
The FDA’s decision was welcomed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
“We are pleased that the FDA has expanded pharmacies’ access to this safe and effective drug, alleviating one of the agency’s unnecessary burdens on patients using mifepristonesaid Julia Kaye of the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Project.
