Vermont, Washington take steps to protect access to abortion pills

[April 28, 2023]  By Sharon Bernstein
 
(Reuters) - The states of Vermont and Washington took steps on Thursday to protect the availability of medication abortions in the event that a lawsuit challenging federal approval for a commonly used abortion drug prevails in court.

Used boxes of Mifepristone, the first pill in a medical abortion, line a trash can at Alamo Women's Clinic in Carbondale, Illinois, U.S., April 20, 2023. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/

A series of bills were either passed or signed in the two states days after the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily paused implementation of lower court rulings that would have either removed Food and Drug Administration approval for the abortion drug mifepristone, or restricted its use.

The Vermont measure, which passed the legislature on Thursday, would add abortion to the state's list of protected health care services, meaning that doctors and pharmacists who provide the medication to terminate a pregnancy would not be prosecuted.

In Washington, Governor Jay Inslee, a Democrat, on Thursday signed five bills aimed at protecting abortion access, including one authorizing the state Department of Corrections to acquire and dispense abortion medications whether or not the patient is in its custody. The bill allows the department to sell the drug to clinics and providers who commit to using it for abortion care or medical management of miscarriage.

The federal lawsuit in seeking to eliminate access to mifepristone - in Texas by the anti-abortion group Alliance Defending Freedom - was filed after last June's decision by the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 case that established a constitutional right to abortion nationwide.

After Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, appointed by former U.S. President Donald Trump, ruled in the group's favor earlier this month, clinics and providers were thrown into chaos as they grappled with how to proceed. An appeals court ruling soon followed, keeping Kacsmaryk's order restricting mifepristone's use in place but pausing his sweeping order to revoke it's FDA approval.

States where abortion rights are protected scrambled to preserve access to the drug. Several stockpiled mifepristone, while others, including California, purchased supplies of misoprostol, the second medication used in the regimen. Clinics plan to pivot to using only misoprostol should access to mifepristone be removed.

(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein, editing by Ross Colvin and Grant McCool)

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