FDA removes restrictions on the pill that allows abortion within a few weeks of pregnancy

Photo: OLIVIER DOULIERY / AFP / Getty Images

The government of Joe Biden ended a long-sustained restriction on u n drug used to allow abortion in the United States , in cases of pregnancies in their first weeks, even as politicians and governments of some states increase efforts to restrict the right to abortion .

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ended some restrictions on access to the Mifepristone abortion pill, which means that abortion pills can be prescribed through medical teleconsultations and mailed to patients.

The drug Mifepristone was approved by the FDA in 2000 for what is known as a medical abortion. It is used with a second drug, misoprostol. Mifepristone is used to terminate pregnancies in more than other 60 countries, according to the FDA, including at least 14 Europe countries.

The FDA rules that were permanently suspended Thursday required that patients pick up mifepristone in person at a hospital, clinic, or doctor’s office. The FDA does not require that the drug, also known as UK – 486, be taken in a clinical setting and most of the patients take it at home.

But in some states, there are strict state rules against women’s reproductive rights in place that will cushion the impact of that authorization. Several states prohibit mailing the drug and impose other restrictions on the use of the pill.

Nineteen states have banned receiving the drugs through telehealth appointments, making lax FDA rules irrelevant in places like Alabama, Arizona and Missouri.

Some states impose other limitations on medical abortion, such as allowing only doctors to prescribe the drug and requiring patients to take pills under the supervision of a doctor, rather than at home.

The FDA’s decision is released at a time when that the US is fighting a battle in several conservative states, which have imposed severe restrictions on abortion, with lawsuits that have reached the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court is considering whether to reverse abortion rights or even overturn its landmark decision of 1973 in Roe v. Wade who legalized abortion nationwide.

It may interest you:

– Supreme Court leaves Texas abortion law in effect but allows lawsuits against it

– California prepares to become an abortion sanctuary

– Biden calls on Congress to take action to protect the right to abortion