This Abortion Drug Is Safe And Effective. Why Can’t You Buy It In A Pharmacy?

A first-of-its-kind study underway in California and Washington state could pave the way for the Food and Drug Administration to make mifepristone, the most widely used abortion drug in the United States, available at pharmacies.

Still, there is precedent for lifting restrictions on mifepristone when a large enough body of research shows the restrictions aren’t medically necessary. In 2016, the FDA under President Barack Obama followed such evidence, and expanded the window during which the drug can be prescribed from seven weeks into a pregnancy to 10 weeks. It also reduced the recommended dosage.

The patients undergo the same screening and counseling as other abortion patients seen by the participating health care providers. The only difference is, when it came time to hand the patients the mifepristone, they went to an on-site pharmacy. The pharmacies all have FDA permission to stock the drug for the limited purposes of the study.

Even with the restrictions in place, millions of people seeking an abortion have opted for mifepristone over a surgical procedure. The drug, which can be used in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, is highly effective and has a safety record comparable to surgical abortion, but it does not involve an invasive procedure.

Erasing the restrictions might even make it possible for online pharmacies to sell mifepristone. Today, websites that try to retail the medication in the U.S. are targets of an FDA crackdown.Not A Dangerous DrugThe study is taking place against the backdrop of a bigger fight over how easily patients should be able to access abortion-inducing drugs.

In fact, while 2% to 4% of patients who take abortion drugs don’t have a complete abortion, that does not usually constitute an emergency; those patients can take more medication or schedule a surgical abortion. Serious side effects are rare. A recent study of more than 11,000 women who used the drug found that .03% of patients had serious bleeding requiring a transfusion and .01% required hospitalization.

Researchers have tested the potential to screen and prescribe the drug to patients remotely and then send the mifepristone by mail, so that the patient doesn’t even need to visit a telemedicine clinic. California and Washington, where this new study is taking place, were two of the first states to allow pharmacists to prescribe birth control.

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