OAN’s Brooke Mallory
11:43 AM – Friday, March 1, 2024
The two biggest pharmacy chains in the United States, CVS and Walgreens, announced on Friday that they would begin selling abortion pills as early as this month.
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Mifepristone, a popular abortion pill, is labeled “a prescription medication.” In 2000, the FDA authorized mifepristone for abortion use, claiming that it is a “safe and reliable” method of ending an unwanted pregnancy.
Following regulatory changes established by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last year that permit retail pharmacies to offer the pills, CVS and Walgreens both notified CBS News, stating that they have obtained certification to distribute the pill.
President Joe Biden praised the pharmacies’ actions, which coincide with restrictions on access to abortion in a number of U.S. states.
“The stakes could not be higher for women across America,” Biden said in a statement on Friday. “I encourage all pharmacies that want to pursue this option to seek certification,” Biden said.
A rising number of women are choosing to terminate unwanted pregnancies using an abortion pill rather than surgery. Over half of all abortions performed in the United States in 2020 were medication-assisted.
Due to this, opponents of abortion have filed a lawsuit against the FDA regarding the drug’s clearance and organized protests outside of pharmacies after CVS and Walgreens announced last year that they intended to provide patients with access to the prescription.
Many states saw restrictions on access to abortion after the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2022.
In order to purchase the abortion pills, one will need to go to a store location since it is prohibited to send the medication by mail.
“Walgreens has completed the FDA certification process to dispense mifepristone and expects to begin dispensing within a week, consistent with federal and state laws,” the company said in a Friday statement to CBS News. “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.”
In a statement provided to CBS News, CVS stated that it will start sending the medications out to pharmacies in Massachusetts and Rhode Island first in the upcoming weeks.
“We’ve received certification to dispense mifepristone at CVS Pharmacy and plan to fill prescriptions for this medication in states where [it is] legally permissible,” CVS said. The pharmacy chain added that it “will expand to additional states, where allowed by law, on a rolling basis.”
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