FDA Should Lift Abortion Pill Restrictions, Says Former Agency Head
Jane Henney says the restrictions are dangerous during a pandemic because they require unnecessary travel and contact between patients and providers.
by Marie Solis
Apr 27 2020
For two decades, the Food and Drug Administration has maintained restrictions on the abortion drug mifepristone that require patients to receive it from a licensed provider at a hospital or clinic, despite overwhelming evidence that shows the drug is safe and effective to take outside of immediate medical supervision. For patients, that has meant that instead of filling a prescription at the pharmacy—as we do with countless other medications—they must face all the obstacles to accessing abortion clinics, which dwindle in number every year, just to be handed a pill.