Pharmacies and Over the Counter

Pharmacists play an important role in providing contraception in some states, as well as filling prescriptions for a wide range of medicines. However, they are not allowed to fill prescriptions for mifepristone, a pill used in medication abortion, because of outdated federal regulations. There is growing interest in updating these rules and having pharmacists dispense mifepristone to patients with a prescription. There is also the potential to make medication abortion available over the counter: the pills are safe, non-addictive, there is no risk of overdosing on them, and people are already using them safely on their own in many parts of the world. If abortion pills were made available in these ways, it could increase availability of the service for people in rural areas or places where abortion care is difficult to access.