Retail pharmacies in the United States will be allowed to sell abortion pills, health officials said Tuesday, a move that could expand access to the procedure after a Supreme Court decision last year that overturned federal abortion rights.
A regulatory change announced by the Food and Drug Administration means that mifepristone, the first of two drugs used to end pregnancy, will be available at local drugstores in countries where abortion is allowed.
A doctor’s prescription will be required to take the pill, which was previously only available from some mail-order pharmacies or certified doctors and clinics.
Demand for the abortion pill has surged since the conservative-dominated Supreme Court made a landmark decision last June that overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 case that guaranteed women’s right to abortion for half a century.
The abortion pill has been used in more than half of U.S. procedures to end pregnancies, experts say, and has been the focus of political and legal battles over abortion rights since the controversial Supreme Court decision.
Pharmacies must receive certification to dispense the drug, while patients must complete a consent form.
The FDA’s decision was welcomed by the American Civil Liberties Union.
“We are pleased that the FDA has increased pharmacy access to this safe and effective drug, removing one of the unnecessary burdens on mifepristone patients,” said Julia Kaye of the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Project.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the anti-abortion organization Susan B. Anthony List slammed the decision.
“The Biden administration has once again proven that it values abortion industry profits over the safety of women and the lives of their unborn children,” Dannenfelser said in a statement.
© Agence France-Presse