3 says it is renewing its efforts to limit access to the abortion drug mifepristone

Three states are revising legislation to restrict access to the abortion drug mifepristone, including requirements to make it available in person instead of by mail.

A proposal from Kansas, Idaho and Missouri filed Friday would ban the use of the drug after seven weeks of pregnancy instead of 10 and require three visits to a person’s doctor instead of none in the attempt. the latest in making it difficult to obtain the drug used in most abortions across the country.

The decision to sue the US Food and Drug Administration was made in federal court in Texas where the case was reinstated after the US Supreme Court in June unanimously agreed to uphold federal reforms that made it easier access to medicine.

In that judgment, the high court did not deal with the reasons for the approval but instead stated that the abortion doctors and their organizations have no legal right to sue. The judges also initially rejected the influence of the states to intervene in the case.

The states argue they have legal standing because access to the pills “undermines state abortion laws and confuses state law,” they wrote in court documents.

Now they are making a modest but far-reaching request: that the courts restore the restrictions surrounding the drug to where they were before the FDA relaxed them in 2016 and 2021.

The relaxed rules also allow care providers such as nurses to prescribe medications in addition to doctors.

Medical abortions – usually using mifepristone along with a second drug, misoprostol, accounted for about half of the abortions performed in the US before the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision that overturn Roe v. Wade. That decision ended the nationwide right to abortion and opened the door for states to impose more restrictions and restrictions. Thirteen countries now enforce restrictions on abortion at all stages of pregnancy and a further four after six weeks – before most women know they are pregnant.

The pill is now used in about two-thirds of abortions nationwide and is prescribed via telehealth to patients in counties where doctors are banned in countries with laws that seek to protect them from being abused. they are audited by law for providing such care. Expanded access to medication is one reason that the monthly number of abortions has risen slightly since Roe was overturned.

Aid Access, which helps women access abortion pills and covers costs for those who can’t afford them, criticized the latest pill injection on Wednesday.

“The document sent is full of lies,” said Dr. Rebecca Gomperts, the group’s founder. “There is strong scientific evidence that home telephone abortions for pregnant women up to 13 weeks are as safe as in-clinic abortions.”

Over the years, the FDA confirmed the safety of mifepristone and eased restrictions repeatedly, culminating in a 2021 decision that eliminated any personalization requirements and allowed the pill to be sent by mail. .

Abortion opponents have argued that the FDA’s easing of restrictions has created more “emergency problems.” But that argument unites women who have many problems with mifepristone – from the drug not working to people who may have questions or concerns but do not need medical attention.

OB-GYNs say a small percentage of patients have “serious” or “serious” adverse events after taking mifepristone.

A legal summary by a group of medical organizations including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says major adverse events — such as major infection, excessive bleeding or hospitalization — occur in one patient. for every 300.

The report also says drug users went to the emergency room in 2.9% to 4.6% of cases – something that states caught when they introduced it. But doctors say ER visits don’t always indicate serious problems; some people may go there for tests or questions because they don’t have a primary care doctor or don’t want to talk to their doctor about abortion. A 2018 study found that more than half of patients who visited the ER due to an abortion received care only.

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Associated Press reporters Kimberlee Kruesi, Matthew Perrone, Laura Ungar and Lindsay Whitehurst contributed to this article.