FDA loosens requirements on abortion pills, including in-person pick up

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced Thursday American women are no longer required to pick up abortion pills. Under the change, women will be able to get a prescription via an online consultation and receive the pills through the mail.

The FDA stopped enforcing the in-person requirement earlier due to the pandemic. Thursday’s decision makes that move permanent. The new policy still requires prescribers to undergo certification and training. The FDA said dispensing pharmacies will also have to be certified.

Back in 2017, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit arguing the FDA’s restrictions on abortion pills block or delay medical care, especially for people in low-income and rural communities. That lawsuit led to a scientific review of the restrictions. FDA officials supported broadening access and eliminating the restriction that limited dispensing to a small number of specialty clinics and doctor’s offices.

“The in-person restriction provided no safety benefit,” the ACLU said in a Thursday tweet thread. “It only blocked access to essential healthcare, disproportionately harming people who already face severe health disparities and barriers to healthcare access.” ACLU officials hailed the elimination of the strictest requirements, but said regulators should have gone further and allowed prescribing by any physician.

Meanwhile, abortion opponents said the FDA decision would result in more drug-related side effects and complications for women.

“It is well documented that chemical abortion is much harder on women’s health than surgical abortion, and today the FDA has lowered the standards for women’s health in name of greater access to abortion,” the organization March for Life said in its own tweet thread. The organization called the decision “a truly political move that will have grave consequences.”

The new FDA policy on abortion pills is expected to spur legal challenges and more restrictions in Republican-led states. It also comes as the Supreme Court is looking at restrictions in Texas and Mississippi.