CVS and Walgreens to Begin Dispensing Abortion Pill Mifepristone

CVS and Walgreens announced on March 1 that they would begin dispensing the abortion pill mifepristone, also known under its brand name, Mifeprex. Walgreens said it would start selling the pills in five states, including Pennsylvania, then roll them out to others. The Walgreens website lists New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, California, and Illinois as the first states where the pills will be dispensed. Mifepristone will also be dispensed at CVS pharmacies in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and the company intends to expand the offering to more states as the law allows.

Walgreens, a pharmacy giant with about 8,600 locations, completed the process of certification to sell mifepristone with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in January 2023. “We are beginning a phased rollout in select locations to allow us to ensure quality, safety, and privacy for our patients, providers, and team members,” the Walgreens website reads. CVS, which operates over 9,000 pharmacies nationwide, plans to begin selling the drug this week. The pharmacies will dispense the medication on the basis of a prescription from a certified medical professional, but they will not be able to send it by mail.

The Two-Step Medication Regimen

The FDA approved mifepristone in 2000 as the first part of a two-step nonsurgical abortion regimen, along with a second drug, misoprostol, which both CVS and Walgreens already dispense. This method, originally called RU-486, was developed by a French drugmaker in 1980 as a method of terminating an early pregnancy by blocking the natural production of progesterone. The two-step regimen is also used in miscarriage care.

Medication abortions account for over half of all U.S. abortions. By 2017 medication abortion had gained momentum, representing 39% of all abortions in the United States. In 2020, the non-surgical method accounted for 54% of abortions, according to a report by the Guttmacher Institute. Rabia Muqaddam, a senior staff attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights, told CBS News the announcement by CVS and Walgreens was “absolutely a game-changer.”

Legal Landscape and State Restrictions

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe, 21 states have banned or restricted abortion. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to weaken or topple its nearly 50-year-old abortion rights decision, Roe v. Wade, giving states wide latitude to restrict the procedure. In December 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review a lower court’s ruling regarding the medication.

Status of Medication Abortion Access by State:

• Pennsylvania: Abortion is legal up to 23 weeks of pregnancy; however, the state’s Abortion Control Act includes restrictions such as a 24-hour waiting period.
• Texas: Banned medication abortion after seven weeks of pregnancy and enacted a statute the U.S. Supreme Court let stand that allows anyone to sue a person who provides an abortion.
• Indiana: Enacted a law prohibiting medication abortions after 10 weeks of pregnancy.
• South Dakota: Lawmakers proposed bills that would require patients to pick up the pills at a medical facility and take them under observation by a medical professional.
• Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Missouri: Legislators proposed bills that would ban telehealth consultations and instead require one or more in-person visits to a medical facility.

Access in Pennsylvania

You can buy an abortion pill online and get it by mail in Pennsylvania. The FDA has approved abortion pills by mail from U.S. based abortion providers for all 50 U.S. states including Pennsylvania. Aid Access will help you order abortion pills and get mifepristone and misoprostol tablets delivered to your PA home in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Reading, Erie, or anywhere else in Pennsylvania. As of 2024, the price of the abortion pill in Pennsylvania is $150. According to the New York Times, pharmacies will dispense the medication on the basis of a prescription from a certified medical professional.