The US Supreme Court decision to reverse its ruling on abortion laws has triggered a surge in requests for abortion pills.
The pills were approved two decades ago and can now be prescribed over the phone or online and delivered by post or courier.
The FDA said they can be used without significant risk to terminate a pregnancy for up to 10 weeks.
The pills account for more than half of all American abortions.
The Biden administration is moving to expand access to the pills for women in anti-abortion states.
At least eight states have already banned chemical abortions, but it’s unclear how they will police use of the pills.
Their access and use in those states remains a legally ‘grey’ area.
“We’re in uncharted territory,” the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Alina Salganicoff told NPR.
“I think it’s going to be challenging for providers. I think it’s going to be challenging for patients. And I think we’re going to see a lot of litigation as these cases move forward.”
The National Right to Life Committee’s Jennifer Popik agrees.
She says: “Chemical abortion is the fight we’re going to be having for the next decade, probably longer.”
“No matter how many states ban abortion from either six weeks or completely, these pills will still be coming into those states.”
Abortion rights activists are petitioning Democratic states to protect their clinicians from penalties.
“We’re lobbying the state to pass assurances that my license will not be in jeopardy; that my malpractice will not be in jeopardy; and that I will not be extradited to another state and prosecuted,” says a New-York based telehealth abortion provider.
‘The Christian Post’ reports a spike in sales of the ‘morning-after’ contraceptive pill since the Supreme Court ruling.
That’s forced many stores to ration supplies.
