Recent decisions by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the two biggest pharmacy chains are bringing the post-Roe v. Wade landscape more clearly into focus. America is becoming a country where abortion is a crime in some states but just a normal part of health care in others.
This week, the FDA announced that retail pharmacies will be allowed to dispense mifepristone and misoprostol, drugs used to induce abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy. Until now, the pills could be obtained only directly from the prescriber or, under temporary pandemic-era rules, from mail-order pharmacies. The two biggest pharmacy chains — CVS Health Corp. and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. — quickly confirmed they would seek to become certified to sell the drugs, often known by the brand name Mifeprex.
The revised rules are a move in the right direction, at least for states where abortion is still legal. But the rule change amounts to a rather tentative step. The FDA should have gone further and dropped the needless hurdles that will complicate retail pharmacies’ efforts to dispense the medication.
