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Pharmacies across the United States are considering whether to sell mifepristone, a pill used for medical abortions, following the Food and Drug Administration’s announcement earlier this week that it is now possible to do so.
What they decide is mainly based on where they are located given that almost half of the states ban or limit abortion after the Supreme Court overturned a landmark Roe v Wade ruling. However, some pharmacists told Reuters that it was local culture and attitudes or their personal beliefs about abortion that guided them.
The FDA rule will make medication abortions, which account for more than half of US abortions, more accessible in states where abortion remains legal, but the impact on pharmacies in states that prohibit abortion remains to be seen.
Bill Patel, who has owned Care Rite Pharmacy in Marianna, Fla., for five years, said he will not seek certification to dispense mifepristone at the pharmacy because he is personally opposed to abortion. The dispensary is located near Florida’s border with Georgia and Alabama, where abortions are severely restricted.
He said he would do so if requested by the health department. “I’m just opposed to be honest with you,” he said. “I’m against abortion.”
Florida currently bans abortion after 15 weeks and has several other restrictions.
Some big chains will give it
National pharmacy chain giant Walgreens Boot Alliance Inc. and CVS Health Corp. has said it will give mifepristone in countries where it is allowed. Other national and regional chains including Southeastern Grocers Inc., which owns Winn-Dixie stores, said they are still considering if and where they will offer them.
A spokesman for GenBioPro, one of two companies that make mifepristone in the United States, said the drug’s maker had begun accepting applications for certification but did not provide further details.
Michelle Vargas, owner of the independent Lamar Family Pharmacy in Lamar, SC, said she had not considered giving it away.
“We’re in a very small rural area. We’re not near an abortion clinic or in a bigger city where it happens more,” she said. “That’s not what we’re seeing here.”
Unresolved legal issues
Legal questions swirling around the prospect of a drug with FDA approval which is made illegal under state law in some parts of the country.
With pending legal issues, pharmacies in states that restrict abortion are likely to face legal risks and could lose their licenses if they decide to sell mifepristone in violation of state law, said interim CEO of the American Pharmacist Association Ilisa Bernstein, who worked at the FDA for 30 years. year.
Other factors, such as safety for pharmacies and pharmacists, also play a role, Bernstein said.
Steve Moore, a pharmacist and owner of Condo Pharmacy in Plattsburgh, NY, a state where abortion is legal, plans to release the drug.
“As far as my role as a pharmacist goes, I think I can help people safely and effectively use their medications,” Moore said. “I am not in a role to limit access to medicine.”
“We’ve had patients give us a hard time dispensing the morning after pill or birth control. That’s always your prerogative. Stop doing that,” he said.
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