US lifts restriction on abortion pill, allowing women to obtain it by mail

The U.S. lifted restrictions on a pill used to terminate early pregnancies, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on Thursday, allowing the drug to be sent by mail.

The drug, known as mifepristone, is approved to use up to 10 weeks of pregnancy and is commonly prescribed to treat women who have miscarriages.

"The FDA’s decision will come as a tremendous relief for countless abortion and miscarriage patients," said Georgeanne Usova, senior legislative counsel at the ACLU.

After the FDA approved the drug in 2000, restrictions were set in place. The restrictions were temporarily lifted this year due to the pandemic, enabling women to consult a doctor by telemedicine and receive the pills by mail. The FDA announced on Thursday that it would make the change permanent.

"Covid just gave us this kind of natural experiment to demonstrate that no, in fact, there is no medically justifiable reason to require patients to come into a clinic and pick up a pill that they are going to turn around and take at home," said Kristen Moore, the director of the Expanding Medication Abortion Access Project.

Now, women will no longer need to go in person to pick up the pills. Instead, they are able to receive the pill through mail from a certified prescriber or pharmacy.

"The FDA's decision eliminating its unnecessary in-person requirement did not come a moment too soon," ACLU attorney Julia Kaye said in a statement.

The change will now allow women who live in remote areas to access the drug, as well as low-income citizens who have difficulty accessing medical care.

“It’s really significant,” said Mary Ziegler, a law professor at Florida State University. “Telehealth abortions are much easier for both providers and patients, and even in states that want to do it, there have been limits on how available it is.”

Texas and 18 other states have state laws that supersede the FDA’s decision, barring the mailing of abortion pills. Women in these states could potentially travel to other states to obtain the drug.  

The decision by the FDA comes as the right to abort is being debated in courts. Some Supreme Court justices seek to ban abortions before 15 weeks of pregnancy, challenging the Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortions nationwide.