Pro-life advocates alarmed by FDA's new rule on abortion pills

WASHINGTON — News that the Food and Drug Administration has finalized a rule change that makes abortion pills more widely available in pharmacies and via mail order has pro-life advocates alarmed.

Mike Griffin, public affairs representative for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, called the FDA's action "terrible."

"Since the Biden Administration came to power, the FDA has made multiple moves to loosen common sense restrictions on the abortion pill being delivered via telemedicine, directly through the mail and now through retail pharmacies," Griffin said. "This is terrible because it ends up circumventing the laws that states are passing to limit abortion and it expands access to dangerous 'medication' that puts vulnerable and desperate women in danger."

The Biden administration partially implemented changes last year by refusing to enforce a long-standing requirement that women pick up the medicine in person.

The FDA’s latest action allows pharmacies to dispense the pills as long as they complete a certification process.

The Associated Press reported that the change could expand access at both brick-and-mortar stores and online pharmacies. Women can get a prescription via telehealth consultation with a health professional, and then receive the pills the mail, where permitted by law, the AP said.

The impact of the FDA’s rule change has been lessened in many states, including Georgia, that have more restrictive laws against abortion.

Legal experts are predicting lawsuits over access to the pills.

For the past two decades, the FDA had limitations on the pills due to safety concerns.

The FDA in 2000 approved mifepristone to terminate pregnancies of up to 10 weeks, when used with a second drug, misoprostol.

Mifepristone is taken first to dilate the cervix and block the hormone progesterone, which is needed to sustain a pregnancy. Misoprostol is taken 24 to 48 hours later, causing the uterus to contract and expel what’s inside.

Bleeding is a common side effect, though serious complications are very rare.

The FDA says more than 3.7 million U.S. women have used mifepristone since its approval.

Several FDA-mandated safety requirements remain in effect, including training requirements to certify that prescribers can provide emergency care in the case of excessive bleeding.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.