The stories you want. The opinions that matter.
No, thanks
Tag: abortion pills
Biden Considers Executive Orders And Funding To Support Abortion Rights

Biden Considers Executive Orders And Funding To Support Abortion Rights

By Nandita Bose

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Joe Biden is considering executive orders and other measures to increase access and funding for women if the U.S. Supreme Court votes to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion, officials and sources with knowledge of the matter said.

An unprecedented leak of an initial draft majority opinion from the Supreme Court, published by Politico last week, showed the court is set to overturn the Roe decision that said the Constitution protects a woman's right to choose to have an abortion.

The president has asked the White House Gender Policy Council, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the White House Counsel's Office to put together a plan to protect women's rights, press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Tuesday.

A source advising the White House on how it can address the issue told Reuters many steps being considered are tied to asking federal agencies to do more.

For example, the White House is considering pushing the Food & Drug Administration, which controls prescription drug access, to increase access to the drugs used in medical abortions, the person said. Medical abortions account for about half of overall abortions in the United States and must be dispensed by physician in many states.

The White House is also discussing making abortion pills available online from interstate and foreign providers for personal use and asking the FDA to publish a list of authorized reputable providers, the source said.

A third option is asking Health & Human Services Administration (HHS) and the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to allow Medicaid funds to be used to pay for travel expenses for lower-income women who travel out of state for abortion procedures, the source said.

The discussions involve preparing the Department of Justice (DOJ) to defend doctors, pharmacists, institutions that perform abortions and dispense abortion medication, along with women who choose to get an abortion, from criminal cases and lawsuits.

"It may not all be executive orders ... a lot of this is ensuring that we have increased access and funding so that women who are living in the states, if Roe were to be overturned, would be able to have expanded access and capabilities and some of that could be from the Department of Justice," Psaki said, without offering details.

The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and the Surgeon General's Office could also be tapped to put out a report on the "profound physical, mental, and emotional impact on women from not having access to reproductive health services," the source said.

Earlier Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters President Biden was meeting a group of people to discuss executive actions. "If he can find executive actions that work and are legal, I would certainly welcome them," Schumer said.

Psaki said she was not aware of a Tuesday meeting but these issues had been discussed in meetings with the president over several days.

She said the White House will not disclose specific steps until the Supreme Court issues a final opinion.

(Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington, additional reporting by Jeff Mason, editing by Robert Birsel)

Conservatives Whine Over FDA Ending Ban On Abortion Pills By Mail

Conservatives Whine Over FDA Ending Ban On Abortion Pills By Mail

After a year of seemingly terrible news for women looking to exercise their constitutional right to seek an abortion, the FDA finally gave abortion rights advocates something to celebrate by allowing approved abortion pills to be prescribed through telehealth providers and mailed to anyone living in the 31 states where doing so is legal.

Medication abortions consist of the drugs mifepristone (brand name Mifeprex) and misoprostol (brand name Cytotec). They are a safe and effective way to end a pregnancy up to 70 days after the first missed period. In the wake of Covid, the FDA decided to temporarily lift its long-held ban on allowing abortion pills from being prescribed through telehealth and sent by mail.

Considering there exists no concrete scientific or health reason justifying such stringent regulations, the FDA has decided to do away with them. In fact, the majority of drugs the FDA prohibits from being prescribed via telehealth or sent through the mail are prohibited for legitimate health-related reasons. For example, they're habit-forming or can have negative interactions with other medications. This is not the case with medication abortions, however.

The decision to lift the ban comes amid the firestorm surrounding the Supreme Court's decision whether to roll back abortion rights or even overturn its landmark 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade that made abortion legal nationwide. Of course, giving women the right to choose and make up their own minds when it comes to their bodies is something that right-wing media outlets simply won't tolerate. After all, they want government small enough to fit inside a uterus.

Conservatives Are Predictably Angry

In their quest to perpetuate their war on science, conservatives didn't hesitate to start unloading a mountain of misinformation and resistance.


And it seems many red states are prepared to reinstate the ban.


Despite the predictable right-wing noise over the FDA lifting the ban on abortion pills, the science supports the agency's decision. While the Fox News crowd would have you think liberals seek out abortions like lattes from Starbucks, only three percent of Planned Parenthood's services are for abortions. It's also not a decision that any woman, regardless of her stance on abortion, takes lightly. But leave it to so-called "experts" in conservative media to continue making this issue into a political weapon.

Iowa Supreme Court Blocks Rule Limiting Access To Abortion Pills

Iowa Supreme Court Blocks Rule Limiting Access To Abortion Pills

By Alana Semuels, Los Angeles Times

A rule that would have prohibited doctors from prescribing abortion pills by videoconferencing has been blocked by the Iowa Supreme Court in a last-minute decision hailed as a victory by pro-abortion rights advocates.

“This ruling is a victory for Iowa women,” Suzanna de Baca, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, said of Tuesday’s decision.

The rule was adopted last year by the Iowa Board of Medicine, which regulates physicians in the state, and was upheld earlier this year by a district court judge. The state Legislature considered but did not pass a similar law earlier this year.

The rule, which was to have taken effect this week, required a physician to perform a physical examination before prescribing abortion-inducing drugs, and also mandated that a woman must have a follow-up appointment to confirm the termination of the pregnancy.

“The board believes that all patients, including those in rural Iowa, deserve the highest level of care,” the Board of Medicine said when it passed the rule. “The board believes that a physician must establish an appropriate physician-patient relationship prior to the provision of a medical abortion. The physician’s in-person medical interview and physical examination of the patient are essential to establishing that relationship.”

Opponents of the rule protested that requirement would make it more difficult for women who live in many of Iowa’s rural areas to get abortions and would restrict access to abortions to only the cities of Iowa City and Des Moines. The rule would have decreased the number of places women could get abortions in the state by 70 percent, according to Planned Parenthood.

“Medical evidence also shows that the rule, if implemented, will force women to delay abortions, thereby increasing their risks of complications and death,” opponents of the law argued in a legal brief.

Around 91 percent of counties in Iowa have no abortion provider, according to a report by NARAL Pro-Choice America. Planned Parenthood has been providing telemedicine abortions in Iowa since 2008.

Already, 15 states, including Kansas and Oklahoma, ban the prescribing of abortion-inducing drugs via teleconference, according to a report by the Guttmacher Institute, which advocates for increased access to abortion services. Courts have struck down similar laws in North Dakota and Arkansas.

The decision marks the latest in a string of court victories for pro-abortion rights activists, who are pushing back against a significant surge of anti-abortion efforts.

Photo: World Can’t Wait via Flickr

Interested in national news? Sign up for our daily email newsletter!