The Status of Mifepristone and Abortion Pill Access in the United States
On June 13, 2024, in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, the US Supreme Court unanimously reversed a lower court decision suspending the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, a medication used to end pregnancies in the first trimester and treat early miscarriages. This landmark ruling allows healthcare providers to continue distributing the medication without added restrictions.
Current State-Level Bans and Access
As of June 2024, 14 states have near-total bans on mifepristone. The other 36 states and Washington, DC, provide some form of legal access to the abortion medication, though the level of availability varies significantly across these regions.
Distribution and Regulation
Mifepristone is typically used to induce a medical abortion during early pregnancy (70 days or less since the first day of a patient’s last menstrual period). Access is categorized as follows:
- Widely Available: It’s widely available in 22 states and Washington, DC, where it can be prescribed by a non-physician health care provider like a medical assistant or nurse practitioner.
- Heavily Regulated: Another 14 states allow it but regulate it more heavily, making it available only when prescribed by a doctor or after mandated counseling or ultrasounds, along with other state-mandated abortion restrictions.
Furthermore, all states that allow Mifepristone prescriptions must meet FDA requirements ensuring that the drug must be prescribed by a health care provider that meets certain qualifications and is certified under the Mifepristone Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) Program.
National Health Statistics
The prevalence of this medication is reflected in national data. In the 46 states that reported abortion data to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2021, 80.9% of reported abortions were early medical abortions—meaning the medical abortion occurred at a gestational age of nine weeks or earlier.