(ANSA) - ROME, JAN 04 - Retail pharmacies in the United States can sell the abortion pill mifepristone for the first time, under a new rule change by the Biden administration.
The BBC reports it.
Patients currently obtain mifepristone - a drug protocol that is safe and effective in inducing abortion - in person from a healthcare professional.
Under the new rule, patients will be able, always upon presentation of a prescription, to buy the pill in-store or online.
A decision that could significantly expand access to abortion through drugs.
Abortion pills have become more sought after in the wake of last year's Supreme Court decision nullifying federal abortion rights, with several states banning or drastically limiting access to abortion.
More than half of abortions in the United States are already performed with the use of drugs rather than surgery, according to the pro-choice Guttmacher Institute.
Mifepristone is taken in combination with a second drug called misoprostol, usually taken within 10-12 weeks of pregnancy to induce what is known as a medical abortion.
Misoprostol, which is commonly used for the management of miscarriage, is not a restricted drug and can be easily obtained at a pharmacy with a prescription.
But women living in the more than a dozen states where abortion has been banned will likely have to travel to other states to get the drug.
(HANDLE).
