It’s been more than six months since The Supreme Court’s opinion in Dobbs overturned Roe v. Wade in June. Since then, anti-abortion activists have continued to try and restrict access to abortion care, even in states where abortion is legal. And The Food and Drug Administration and its oversight of the abortion medication, Mifepristone, has been one of their targets. 

Medication abortions account for half of abortions in the United States, and Mifepristone is the first of two pills used in the method, for use in up to 10 weeks of pregnancy.Last week, the FDA issued new rules on Mifepristone, making it easier for people to access from retail pharmacies, with a prescription from a specially certified health provider. Previous to these new rules, patients could only receive the medication in-person at a specially-certified clinic, or through a telemedicine appointment and have the medication mailed to them through a certified mail-order pharmacy.

This latest move by the FDA could expand access to abortion care, at least in states that don’t already restrict abortions or the drugs for medical abortions.

We speak with Andrea Miller, President of the National Institute for Reproductive Health who says this is a step forward, but there is still a lot of bureaucratic hoops that pharmacies have to jump through to provide the medication, and she says this is yet another case of “abortion exceptionalism.”