FDA to permanently allow abortion pills by mail, a major win for advocates
The new rule could help some women circumvent restrictions on abortion in states like Texas, where patients must pick up the medication in person and can’t acquire it through telehealth appointments.
Dec. 16, 2021, 4:29 PM CST / Updated Dec. 16, 2021, 5:10 PM CST
By Dartunorro Clark
The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday that it will permanently allow patients to receive abortion pills by mail, expanding access to abortion as the Supreme Court wrestles with the future of Roe v. Wade.
The new rule could help some women circumvent restrictions on abortion in states like Texas, where patients must pick up the medication in person and can’t acquire it through telehealth appointments.
During the coronavirus pandemic, the FDA temporarily eased restrictions on mifepristone — which, taken with another medication called misoprostol, ends early pregnancies — so patients could temporarily order the pills by mail.
The expansion of telehealth services during the coronavirus pandemic spurred greater access to the regimen, which the FDA approved in 2016 to terminate pregnancies up to 70 days' gestation.
The FDA is expanding access as the Supreme Court scrutinizes access to abortions and as several GOP-led states have taken steps to ban access to abortion medication through telehealth services.
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https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/fda-permanently-allow-abortion-pills-mail-major-win-advocates-n1286183