It’s easier than ever for New Yorkers to get abortion pills. But that ease of access may be jeopardized as the U.S. Supreme Court considers a case that could cut off options for obtaining one of the two drugs used in medication abortions.
New York City-based start-ups like Hey Jane and Juniper Midwifery are part of a wave of online clinics that have popped up in recent years to prescribe the pills remotely and send the medication through the mail. Many traditional providers, including the city’s public hospital system, have started offering similar telehealth options.
For those who don’t want to wait on deliveries, Walgreens recently announced that certain locations in New York will also start dispensing abortion pills to customers with prescriptions as part of a rollout to several states. CVS could be on its heels: A spokesperson for the pharmacy chain said it now carries abortion pills in Massachusetts and Rhode Island and will phase in other states in the coming weeks.
But this level of accessibility could change. The Supreme Court is set to hear a case next week that challenges the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s 24-year-old approval for the abortion medication mifepristone. A lower-court judge previously ruled that mifepristone should be taken off the market, though that ruling never went into effect. That judge repeatedly cited a study questioning the drug’s safety, which has since been retracted.
The case also challenges newer federal policies easing restrictions on abortion pills. Even if the Supreme Court preserves FDA approval for mifepristone, it could roll back more recent Biden administration rules that have allowed the pill to be delivered through the mail and dispensed at pharmacies — instead of obtained in person at a clinic.
Mifepristone is part of a two-pill regimen for medication abortions, along with the drug misoprostol. The Supreme Court ruling won’t affect access to misoprostol, which is also approved by the FDA for other…
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