Chains will have to follow certain procedures and women will still need a doctor’s or healthcare provider’s prescription….
But will open access to abortion medication to moere women locally….
This Biden move IS a result of the Supreme’s moving abortion policy to the indiviual states….
The move , of course, is designed to get around those states that are trying to ban abortion pills outright….
We’ll see if those state’s go to court to challange the Biden government move….
Will drug store’s risk legal actions taken by state against them , not the Biden admin?….
The action is the latest step taken by the federal government to expand access to abortion pills by easing some of the restrictions that have applied to mifepristone since it was approved in 2000.
In December 2021, the F.D.A. said it would permanently lift the requirement that patients obtain mifepristone in person from a health provider, a step that paved the way for telemedicine abortion services which conduct medical consultations with patients by video, phone or online questionnaires and then arrange for them to receive the prescribed pills by mail.
On Tuesday, the F.D.A. officially removed the in-person requirement from its regulatory rule book for mifepristone, leaving in place the remaining two requirements: that health providers be certified to show they have the knowledge and ability to treat abortion patients and that patients complete a consent form.
Mifepristone, which blocks a hormone necessary for pregnancy development, is authorized by the F.D.A. to be taken in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, although many clinics and telemedicine providers have begun offering it up to 12 or 13 weeks into pregnancy, a step they can legally take because there is scientific evidence that the pills are safe and effective in that time frame….
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Whether large pharmacy chains and local drugstores would opt to make the pills available was not immediately clear Tuesday. A spokesman for Walgreens, Fraser Engerman, said the company would review the F.D.A.’s decision and would “continue to enable our pharmacists to dispense medications consistent with federal and state law.”….