Photo: OLIVIER DOULIERY (Getty Images)
Most early abortions are done by taking pills that cause a miscarriage. This method—medication abortion—is simple and safe, but until recently, federal rules made it illegal to get these pills in the mail like other prescriptions. The FDA has now permanently changed that rule.
To be clear: we’re talking about pills that can abort an existing pregnancy, no relation to emergency contraception like Plan B that can prevent a pregnancy from occurring after sex.
What is a medical abortion?
Medication abortion is for pregnancies that are in about their first 10 weeks. You take mifepristone to stop the pregnancy from growing, and misoprostol to make your uterus expel it. The experience is similar to a miscarriage, as Planned Parenthood explains here.
How did the law on abortion pill by mail change?
The recent rule change appeared as a subtle addition on this FDA web page, but The New York Times has more details. Of the two medications used in this type of abortion, one of them—mifepristone—is strictly regulated. Providers who prescribe it need to be specially certified, and patients must sign an agreement stating that they have been informed about the drug.
There used to be another requirement: that mifepristone be dispensed in-person. That meant you had to go to a clinic, not just a pharmacy, to get the pill, but the requirement never really made sense, since you experience the effects of the pill later, at home; picking it up at a clinic doesn’t improve patient safety, doctors have long argued—and finally, the FDA agrees.
The in-person requirement was suspended temporarily for part of the pandemic, and the new rule change makes that permanent. In place of the in-person requirement is a requirement that the pharmacy that dispenses the pill be specially certified. That means mifepristone is still more annoying to obtain than other prescription medications, but if you can’t find a certified clinic or pharmacy locally, it should now be possible to get an early abortion through telemedicine. You would have a video visit with a certified provider, and then receive the pills by mail from a certified pharmacy.
Of course, any abortion regulation will always have people trying to fight it. Right now, as The New York Times reports, 19 states have laws that prohibit telemedicine abortions. So even though the federal government is okay with the pills being prescribed remotely, people who live in those 19 states would have to travel if they wanted to legally mail-order the pills.
