Mifepristone (Mifeprex), one in every of the 2 drugs utilized in a drugs abortion, is displayed on the Women’s Reproductive Clinic, which provides legal medication abortion services, in Santa Teresa, Latest Mexico, on June 15, 2022.
Robyn Beck | AFP | Getty Images
Walgreens and CVS will sell the prescription abortion pill mifepristone after the Food and Drug Administration this week dropped a long-standing rule that prevented drug stores from doing so.
The choice by the 2 largest drug store chains within the U.S. will significantly expand access to mifepristone in states where abortion is legal. The businesses cannot offer the pill in states which have completely banned abortion within the wake of the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade.
The FDA on Tuesday modified its regulations to permit retail drug stores to dispense mifepristone as long as they complete a certification process. The agency dropped a long-standing rule that required patients to acquire the abortion pill in-person at clinics, hospitals and other certified health-care providers.
Walgreens plans to get certified and is working through the registration and training of its pharmacists to dispense mifepristone consistent with federal and state law, spokesperson Fraser Engerman said. CVS also plans to get certified in states where it’s legal to achieve this, spokesperson Amy Thibault said.
This implies patients in lots of parts of the U.S. will effectively have the ability to acquire mifepristone like other prescription medications, either in-person at a retail pharmacy or through the mail. Patients will still have to obtain their prescription from a licensed health-care provider.
Mifepristone has develop into a central flashpoint within the political battle over abortion on the state level within the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. Several conservative groups have asked a federal court in Texas to overturn the FDA’s approval of mifepristone.
Mifepristone is probably the most common method to terminate a pregnancy within the U.S. Some 51% of abortions were performed with mifepristone in 2020, in accordance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The FDA first approved mifepristone greater than 20 years ago in 2000 as a technique to terminate early pregnancies, however the pill long had strict regulations around the way it may very well be distributed to patients. Medical organizations reminiscent of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists had long argued that those regulations lacked a scientific basis and were rooted in politics.
Mifepristone is approved to finish a pregnancy through the tenth week. It’s used together with one other pill called misoprostol. Mifepristone stops the pregnancy from continuing and misoprostol induces contractions that vacant the uterus.
