Dubai Telegraph - New US rule on abortion pills: What changes?

EUR -
AED 3.826681
AFN 70.961758
ALL 98.138602
AMD 405.652886
ANG 1.877182
AOA 951.190259
ARS 1045.720247
AUD 1.602814
AWG 1.877897
AZN 1.775245
BAM 1.955573
BBD 2.102956
BDT 124.465544
BGN 1.955294
BHD 0.392554
BIF 3076.642669
BMD 1.041829
BND 1.403837
BOB 7.197164
BRL 6.043693
BSD 1.041579
BTN 87.914489
BWP 14.229347
BYN 3.408604
BYR 20419.848375
BZD 2.099456
CAD 1.456529
CDF 2991.091432
CHF 0.930957
CLF 0.036923
CLP 1018.83097
CNY 7.54601
CNH 7.562783
COP 4573.368835
CRC 530.538382
CUC 1.041829
CUP 27.608468
CVE 110.252195
CZK 25.343745
DJF 185.478458
DKK 7.457729
DOP 62.772709
DZD 139.835759
EGP 51.726992
ERN 15.627435
ETB 127.508391
FJD 2.371151
FKP 0.822333
GBP 0.831435
GEL 2.855018
GGP 0.822333
GHS 16.456089
GIP 0.822333
GMD 73.970229
GNF 8977.957272
GTQ 8.040066
GYD 217.904692
HKD 8.110066
HNL 26.320943
HRK 7.431636
HTG 136.72412
HUF 411.522823
IDR 16610.452733
ILS 3.856892
IMP 0.822333
INR 87.968134
IQD 1364.44153
IRR 43834.955489
ISK 145.523076
JEP 0.822333
JMD 165.930728
JOD 0.738765
JPY 161.244275
KES 134.884334
KGS 90.122166
KHR 4193.512952
KMF 492.268155
KPW 937.645704
KRW 1463.259646
KWD 0.320727
KYD 0.867999
KZT 520.059599
LAK 22878.342838
LBP 93271.167197
LKR 303.144792
LRD 187.998165
LSL 18.795317
LTL 3.076251
LVL 0.630192
LYD 5.086409
MAD 10.478083
MDL 18.997794
MGA 4861.435378
MKD 61.522855
MMK 3383.819949
MNT 3540.134882
MOP 8.35093
MRU 41.443187
MUR 48.810083
MVR 16.10707
MWK 1806.090235
MXN 21.283008
MYR 4.654932
MZN 66.583684
NAD 18.795317
NGN 1767.675143
NIO 38.325549
NOK 11.53576
NPR 140.663663
NZD 1.785942
OMR 0.400943
PAB 1.041579
PEN 3.949541
PGK 4.193513
PHP 61.404399
PKR 289.239507
PLN 4.337676
PYG 8131.055634
QAR 3.798559
RON 4.978071
RSD 116.991412
RUB 108.671879
RWF 1421.834864
SAR 3.911473
SBD 8.734231
SCR 14.272055
SDG 626.663972
SEK 11.497837
SGD 1.402931
SHP 0.822333
SLE 23.68116
SLL 21846.638123
SOS 595.230868
SRD 36.978718
STD 21563.75683
SVC 9.113941
SYP 2617.626467
SZL 18.788818
THB 35.922648
TJS 11.092512
TMT 3.646401
TND 3.309016
TOP 2.440072
TRY 35.9978
TTD 7.074178
TWD 33.946439
TZS 2770.578216
UAH 43.089995
UGX 3848.553017
USD 1.041829
UYU 44.294855
UZS 13362.448044
VES 48.506662
VND 26482.251319
VUV 123.688032
WST 2.90836
XAF 655.880824
XAG 0.033274
XAU 0.000384
XCD 2.815595
XDR 0.792308
XOF 655.880824
XPF 119.331742
YER 260.379151
ZAR 18.915093
ZMK 9377.71492
ZMW 28.772658
ZWL 335.468513
  • BCC

    3.4200

    143.78

    +2.38%

  • SCS

    0.2300

    13.27

    +1.73%

  • RELX

    0.9900

    46.75

    +2.12%

  • RBGPF

    59.2400

    59.24

    +100%

  • GSK

    0.2600

    33.96

    +0.77%

  • NGG

    1.0296

    63.11

    +1.63%

  • JRI

    -0.0200

    13.21

    -0.15%

  • CMSC

    0.0320

    24.672

    +0.13%

  • CMSD

    0.0150

    24.46

    +0.06%

  • RIO

    -0.2200

    62.35

    -0.35%

  • BCE

    0.0900

    26.77

    +0.34%

  • BP

    0.2000

    29.72

    +0.67%

  • BTI

    0.4000

    37.38

    +1.07%

  • VOD

    0.1323

    8.73

    +1.52%

  • AZN

    1.3700

    65.63

    +2.09%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    6.79

    -0.15%

New US rule on abortion pills: What changes?
New US rule on abortion pills: What changes? / Photo: Brendan SMIALOWSKI - AFP/File

New US rule on abortion pills: What changes?

US public health officials this week authorized pharmacies to sell abortion pills by prescription. What exactly does that change for women in the United States, after several states banned abortion last year?

Text size:

- Where were they sold before? -

A medication-induced abortion, also known as medical abortion, involves taking two different drugs over the course of one or two days.

The first (mifepristone) blocks the pregnancy, and the second (misoprostol) provokes bleeding to empty the uterus.

The biggest issues surround mifepristone, which has been authorized and tightly regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) since 2000.

The FDA has approved mifepristone to be used through the 10th week of pregnancy.

Until shortly before the Covid pandemic, it could be provided only in person and in specific locales, notably abortion clinics.

But as a result of a lawsuit during the pandemic, the FDA agreed to temporarily allow the drug to be distributed by mail, following a consultation -- in person or remote -- with a doctor.

Then in December 2021, the FDA announced that it was permanently lifting the requirement for in-person delivery of mifepristone.

The agency asked the two pharmaceutical companies supplying it -- Danco Laboratories, which sells it as Mifeprex, and generic manufacturer GenBioPro -- to set up a system allowing wider distribution. That is what was approved this week.

- How does the new system work? -

Pharmacies wishing to sell mifepristone will have to sign a form to be returned to Danco and GenBioPro, guaranteeing that they will be able to dispense the pills to patients within a maximum of four days (if the drug is not stocked on site).

The pharmacy must also stipulate that the prescription comes from a certified medical professional (a doctor or, depending on the state, a nurse).

To be certified, caregivers must themselves fill out a form assuring that they have a relationship with a hospital or clinic that can provide urgent care if needed. They must also obtain a signed consent form from their patients.

Since the doctors themselves are no longer obligated to stock the pills, more might decide to get involved.

It is a "very decentralized system," Kirsten Moore, director of the Expanding Medication Abortion Access Project, told AFP. The FDA "doesn't get involved in the day-to-day management at all."

For Antonia Biggs, a researcher in reproductive health issues at the University of California, San Francisco, the various certifications are unnecessary, but the FDA decision represents "a huge step" -- "it brings medication abortion pills closer to people."

- How soon will pharmacies take part? -

That is unclear. "I would say that in the coming weeks and months, we'll be able to see some more providers" taking part in the program, Jenny Ma, senior counsel with the Center for Reproductive Rights, told AFP.

Two of the biggest US pharmacy chains, Walgreens and CVS, have said they want to participate in the states where it is possible.

- What impact in states where abortion is legal? -

Where abortion is legal, the new measure adds a third option for obtaining the pills, after abortion clinics and the mail. It could allow some women to abort sooner, without waiting for pills to arrive or having to travel to a clinic that may be far away.

"That's going to help tremendously people who live in rural communities," Ma said, particularly those "who might not be able to afford the travel costs."

It could also help women for whom receiving pills by mail might be uncomfortable or complicated, whether young people living with their parents, "people in violent relationships," or those without "stable housing," said Biggs.

Above all, Ma said, "it destigmatizes abortion care; it makes it more similar to any other comparable drug."

- How about states where abortion is illegal? -

A landmark ruling last summer by the US Supreme Court overturned the nationwide right to abortion, allowing each state to pass its own laws governing the procedure.

About a dozen states have since made abortion almost entirely illegal.

In those states, abortion pills remain illegal -- the FDA ruling changes nothing.

"What it will do is make the disparity (between states) even more stark," Ma said.

But women who decide to travel to a state where abortion is legal may now find a pharmacy much closer than an abortion clinic, thereby reducing, and simplifying, their travel.

J.Alaqanone--DT