Mail Order Abortion Pills Still Widely Available.

Abortion medication in focus after Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision

Attorney General Merrick Garland said states cannot ban the abortion medication mifepristone based on disagreement with the FDA’s expert judgment about its safety and efficacy.

According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), mifepristone (mifeprex) is used with another medication called misoprostol to end a pregnancy less than 70 days developed.

The FDA approved mifeprex in 2000 and mifepristone tablets in 2016, which are the generic equivalent. The pills are ingested approximately two days after and anyone taking them should follow up with a doctor one to two weeks later.

The drug is not without risk. Twenty-six women died from adverse events associated with mifepristone since the product was approved, including two cases of ectopic pregnancy resulting in death. The FDA said no new safety signals have been identified.

Mifeprex must be ordered, prescribed and dispensed by or under the supervision of a qualified health care provider. Patients can receive the pills by mail.

The FDA urges people not order these medications from foreign sources online as the drug that arrives could be fake or simply not the same as the one that has been approved for safe use by the FDA.

The drug is also approved for use in about 60 other countries around the globe.

According to data from an abortion-rights research organization medication abortion now accounts for 54% of total abortions.

For more on this story, please consider these sources: