ST. LOUIS (AP) — Attorneys general in 20 conservative-led states, including Indiana, are warning CVS and Walgreens that they could face legal consequences if they sell abortion pills by mail in those states.
A letter Wednesday from Republican Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey to the nation’s largest pharmacy-dispensing companies was co-signed by 19 other attorneys general, warning that sale of abortion pills would violate federal law and abortion laws in many states.
The letter comes about a month after both pharmacy chains announced they plan to provide abortion pills following the Food and Drug Administration's rule change that broadens availability for the pills.
A spokesperson for the Indiana Attorney General's Office sent the following statement to WRTV.
“Indiana law prohibits abortion-inducing drugs from being administered by anyone other than a physician in person. It is illegal for pharmacies to permit the sale of Mifepristone in Indiana. The Office of the Attorney General reminded pharmacists of this last year, and it remains true today.”
Missouri is among states that implemented strict abortion prohibitions last summer after the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.
Nineteen states have imposed restrictions on abortion pills, but there’s a court battle over whether they have the power to do so in defiance of U.S. Food and Drug Administration policy.
“We emphasize that it is our responsibility as State Attorneys General to uphold the law and protect the health, safety, and well-being of women and unborn children in our states,” the attorneys general conclude in the letter. “Part of that responsibility includes ensuring that companies like yours are fully informed of the law so that harm does not come to our citizens.”
A Kaiser Family Foundation poll released Wednesday found about half of the adults surveyed said they are are “unsure” as to whether medication abortion is legal in their state, including 41% of women ages 18 to 49.
More than half of U.S. abortions are now done with pills rather than surgery, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights.
The FDA in 2000 approved mifepristone to terminate pregnancies of up to 10 weeks, when used with a second drug, misoprostol. Mifepristone is taken first to dilate the cervix and block the hormone progesterone, which is needed to sustain a pregnancy. Misoprostol is taken 24 to 48 hours later, causing the uterus to contract and expel pregnancy tissue.
The poll found three in ten adults (31%) have heard of mifepristone, also known as RU-486.
You can read the letter to Walgreens and the letter to CVS.
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