The two largest pharmaceutical chains in the US will begin selling the abortion pill mifepristone this month, just weeks before the Supreme Court hears arguments on the approval of the drug, which the Biden administration defends.
CVS and Walgreens have completed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) certification process to dispense mifepristone, the companies separately confirmed to Fox News Digital. The pill will not be mailed and the companies will follow FDA guidelines issued last year, the same guidelines that will be challenged in the high court on March 26.
Walgreens told Fox News Digital on Friday that it “expects to begin dispensing within a week” at select pharmacies in New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, California and Illinois.
CVS told Fox News Digital that it will begin filling prescriptions for the pill in Massachusetts and Rhode Island “in the coming weeks” and will expand to more states “where permitted by law, on an ongoing basis.”
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Bottles of abortion pills mifepristone, left and misoprostol. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
The pro-life organization Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America (SBA) called the release “shameful” in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“As two of the largest and most trusted 'health' brands in the world, CVS and Walgreens' decision to sell dangerous abortion drugs is shameful, and the harm to unborn babies and their mothers is incalculable,” said the director of SBA State Policies, Katie Daniel..
“Even when used under the strictest safeguards, abortion drugs send about one in 25 women to the emergency room, according to the FDA's own labeling,” Daniel said. “However, under Democratic presidents, the FDA has illegally rolled back basic safety standards, such as in individual doctor visits, even allowing these deadly medications to be sent through the mail.
In a few weeks, Daniel said, the Supreme Court will hear a case “brought by doctors who routinely witness the consequences for women and girls who show up to emergency rooms with severe pain, heavy bleeding, infections and other serious complications.” .
President Biden called the announcement an “important milestone” on Friday.
“With major retail pharmacy chains newly certified to dispense medication abortions, many women will soon have the option to pick up their prescription at a certified local pharmacy, just as they would with any other medication. I encourage all pharmacies who want to follow this option to seek certification,” Biden said in the statement to the media.
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Walgreens said it “expects to begin dispensing within a week” at select pharmacies in New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, California and Illinois. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
In overturning Roe v. Wade In June 2022, the Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that the United States Constitution does not guarantee the right to abortion and that the issue should be decided by the states. Subsequently, 14 states banned abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with some exceptions, and two others banned abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which is around six weeks of gestation.
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The Biden administration and the maker of the drug mifepristone are asking the high court to overturn an appeal ruling that would cut off access to the drug by mail and impose other restrictions, even in states where abortion remains legal. The restrictions include shortening the time during which mifepristone can be used during pregnancy from the current 10 weeks to seven weeks. The nine justices rejected a separate appeal from abortion opponents who challenged the FDA's initial approval of mifepristone as safe and effective in 2000.
Mifepristone, manufactured by New York-based Danco Laboratories, is one of two drugs used in medication abortions, which account for more than half of all abortions in the United States. More than five million people have used it since 2000, according to The Associated Press. The second is misoprostol, which some health care providers say is less effective in terminating pregnancies.
Fox News' Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
