CHARLOTTE — Two major U.S. pharmacy chains have announced they will begin dispensing the drug mifepristone, which has been prescribed for both abortion and early miscarriage, within the coming days.
Representatives of Walgreens and CVS announced the move March 1 in an interview with The New York Times.
Walgreens also issued a press release the same day, stating that it "expects to begin dispensing within a week, consistent with federal and state laws" in a "phased rollout in select locations to allow us to ensure quality, safety, and privacy for our patients, providers, and team members."
Both pharmacy chains have received certification from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to supply the drug under guidelines the agency issued last year. At present, the chains will only provide mifepristone in person, not by mail, in select states where both abortion and pharmacy distribution of abortion drugs is legal.
A synthetic steroid, mifepristone -- introduced 20 years ago -- works by blocking the hormone progesterone, which is necessary for pregnancy to continue. When used in combination with misoprostol, which causes contractions, it induces a "medication abortion" up to 10 weeks into a pregnancy. This regimen is now used for more than half of U.S. abortions, according to the abortion research firm Guttmacher Institute.
However, the same pills are also now prescribed to women who experience early pregnancy miscarriage in order to expel any fetal remains and residual pregnancy tissue from the womb. While misoprostol has been prescribed alone by OB-GYNs, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recently updated its protocols to recommend a combination of mifepristone and misoprostol as more effective than misoprostol alone for early miscarriage care based on research published since 2018.
According to the National Library of Medicine, an estimated 26% of all pregnancies, and up to 10% of clinically recognized pregnancies, end in miscarriage, the loss of pregnancy less than 20-weeks gestation.
Because the Catholic Church teaches that all human life is sacred and must be respected from conception to natural death, it opposes the use of medicine when it is intended to cause direct abortion, which takes the life of the unborn child. However, the church also does not oppose the use of medicine when it is intended for restoring the body to health or life, which it calls "precious gifts entrusted to us by God."
Walgreens plans to offer the mifepristone in select pharmacies in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania, while CVS will distribute the drug in all of its Massachusetts and Rhode Island pharmacies.
In a March 1 statement, President Joe Biden called the pharmacy chains' announcement "an important milestone in ensuring access to mifepristone," and encouraged "all pharmacies that want to pursue this option to seek (FDA) certification" to do so.
However, in a press release issued the same day, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America lambasted the move, citing mifepristone's longstanding, morally illicit usage for early abortion.
"As two of the world's largest, most trusted 'health' brands, the decision by CVS and Walgreens to sell dangerous abortion drugs is shameful, and the harm to unborn babies and their mothers incalculable," Kate Daniel, SBA Pro-Life America's state policy director, said.
Daniel accused the Biden administration of "pushing to turn every pharmacy and post office in America into an abortion center for the sake of abortion industry greed," claiming the FDA under Democratic presidents has "illegally rolled back basic safety standards, like in-person doctor visits, even allowing these deadly drugs to be sent through the mail."
Daniel noted the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments March 26 for FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine and Danco v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, which involve legal challenges to the FDA's regulatory approval of mifepristone.
— Gina Christian, OSV News
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Supreme Court heard oral arguments March 26 in a case concerning mifepristone, a pill commonly used for abortion. It is the first major case involving abortion on its docket since the high court overturned its previous abortion precedent in 2022.
A coalition of pro-life opponents of mifepristone, which is the first of two drugs used in a medication or chemical abortion, filed suit over loosened restrictions on the drug by the Food and Drug Administration, which included making it available by mail, arguing the government violated its own safety standards in doing so.
The FDA has argued the drug poses statistically little risk to the mother in the early weeks of pregnancy. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that more than half of the abortions performed in the U.S. are chemical or medical, rather than surgical.
During oral argument, justices from across the court's ideological spectrum appeared skeptical that the coalition of pro-life doctors challenging the reduced regulations had legal standing to bring the lawsuit, with the question of standing becoming more of a focus than whether the FDA acted lawfully.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett noted the doctors who submitted declarations in the case -- Drs. Christina Francis and Ingrid Skop -- appeared neither to have participated in such an abortion nor could they demonstrate injury from the FDA. The doctors instead had argued in filings they could potentially treat a woman facing complications from the drug.
"The fact that she (the doctor) performed a D&C does not necessarily mean that there was a living embryo or fetus, because you can have a D&C after a miscarriage," Barrett said, referring to a procedure called dilation and curettage, which is sometimes performed as abortion but is also sometimes used to treat a miscarriage.
Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar argued that existing federal conscience protections, allowing medical providers to opt out of providing procedures to which they object, protect the doctors in question.
First approved by the FDA in 2000, mifepristone blocks the hormone progesterone, which maintains proper conditions in the uterus during pregnancy. The drug is paired with misoprostol (initially created to treat gastric ulcers) as part of a chemical regimen for early abortion.
More recently, the same pill combination also has been prescribed to women who experience early pregnancy miscarriage in order to expel any fetal remains and residual pregnancy tissue from the womb. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists updated its protocols to recommend a combination of mifepristone and misoprostol as more effective than misoprostol alone for early miscarriage care based on research published since 2018.
In June 2022, the Supreme Court issued its Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade and its related precedents that made abortion access a constitutional right. The Dobbs decision returned the matter of regulating or restricting abortion back to the legislature.
Pro-life critics of mifepristone argued that the FDA acted improperly in loosening the regulations surrounding its access, while supporters of the drug claimed it is safe for women and was being targeted for political purposes. Protesters on both sides of the debate gathered outside the Supreme Court during arguments.
Erin Hawley, senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom and vice president of the ADF Center for Life and Regulatory Practice, who argued on behalf of the pro-life doctors before the court, said in a statement, "We should all agree that women deserve the ongoing, in-person care of a doctor when taking high-risk drugs."
"But in 2016 and 2021, the FDA recklessly removed nearly every safeguard that it had originally deemed necessary for the use of chemical abortion drugs, including in-person doctor visits to check for ectopic pregnancies, severe bleeding, and life-threatening infections," said Hawley, who also is the wife of Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. "Without question, the FDA's actions have made taking chemical abortion drugs less safe for women. Today, I argued before the Supreme Court on behalf of doctors and medical associations who are witnessing firsthand the harm to women caused by the FDA's recklessness."
Jeanne Mancini, president of the national March for Life organization, said in a statement, "The FDA's removal of nearly all safeguards around the dangerous abortion drug mifepristone has needlessly put women and girls at risk for suffering severe -- even life-threatening -- complications without the ongoing care of a medical provider."
"We hope the FDA will be held accountable for failing to meet its own standards when it comes to abortion drugs," she said. "Such reckless disregard for women's health and safety is unacceptable from an agency tasked with protecting it."
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, the Center for Reproductive Rights wrote, "The FDA's medical and scientific experts should decide what medications are available, NOT politicians or judges."
Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of both Planned Parenthood Action Fund and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, wrote on X, "Today, yet again, SCOTUS will hear a case determining our ability to control our bodies and lives. We know (and the Court knows) that the American people do not want abortion to be banned. It's about control. It always has been."
But Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, said in a statement, "Abortion is not health care, and no child should experience such violence."
Bishop Burbidge, chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities, added, "With dangerous abortion drugs now making up the majority of abortions and increasing in use, we pray that the Supreme Court will restore the Food and Drug Administration's safeguards for the health of women and protect more preborn children."
The bishop also added that "a vulnerable mother who obtains an abortion must not be left alone without medical care afterwards." He asked Catholics to join in prayer until the court issues its decision and "search for ways in your community to help support mothers in need and make abortion unthinkable."
The USCCB submitted an amicus brief in the case in February.
A ruling in the case is expected by the end of the court's term, which typically ends in June and would be in the midst of the 2024 presidential campaign.
— Kate Scanlon, OSV News
US bishops urge prayer as high court poised to hear cases on pill used in abortion
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the Supreme Court prepares to take up two cases on access to pills commonly used for early abortions, U.S. Catholic bishops have issued a nationwide call to prayer to end abortion and protect women and unborn children.
The invitation was issued March 14 by Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for Military Services, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, chairman of the USCCB's Committee on Pro-Life Activities.
The prayer campaign, which seeks the intercession of St. Joseph as the "Defender of Life," begins March 25, the day before the Supreme Court hears oral arguments for Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine and Danco Laboratories v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine. Both cases center on the drug mifepristone and its widespread availability.
The start date also marks the anniversary of the release of Pope St. John Paul II's 1995 encyclical "Evangelium Vitae" ("The Gospel of Life"). The encyclical itself was published on that year's observance of the feast of the Annunciation of the Lord, which in 2024 will be celebrated Monday, April 8.
The daily prayer for the campaign is available in English and Spanish at respectlife.org/prayer-to-st-joseph.
"We ask Catholics to offer this prayer daily, from March 25 through June, when a decision is expected," wrote Archbishop Broglio and Bishop Burbidge.
First approved by the FDA in 2000, mifepristone blocks the hormone progesterone, which maintains proper conditions in the uterus during pregnancy. The drug is paired with misoprostol (initially created to treat gastric ulcers) as part of a chemical regimen used in more than half of all U.S. abortions in 2020.
More recently, the same pill combination has also been prescribed to women who experience early pregnancy miscarriage in order to expel any fetal remains and residual pregnancy tissue from the womb. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists updated its protocols to recommend a combination of mifepristone and misoprostol as more effective than misoprostol alone for early miscarriage care based on research published since 2018.
Last year, the doctors and medical professionals represented by the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine challenged the FDA's greenlighting of mifepristone as unsafe.
While it struck down the alliance's request in August 2023, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals did revoke the FDA's efforts to increase access to the drug. Nonetheless, an earlier stay issued by the nation's top court has maintained broad access to the drug.
The bishops acknowledged that the upcoming Supreme Court case "is not about ending chemical abortion," but still has the potential to "restore limitations that the FDA has overridden."
"When a Supreme Court decision is released, probably in June, we can expect a public and political reaction similar to the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade," they wrote.
On March 11, Bishop Burbidge issued a statement expressing "great sorrow" after the body of a preterm baby was discovered in a pond in Leesburg, Virginia.
The bishop asked the faithful to pray "for the child's mother and for anyone involved in this incident" and offered burial services while highlighting diocesan resources for women in challenging pregnancies.
— Gina Christian, OSV News
Offer this Prayer to St. Joseph, Defender of Life daily:
Dearest St. Joseph, at the word of an angel, you lovingly took Mary into your home. As God’s humble servant, you guided the Holy Family on the road to Bethlehem, welcomed Jesus as your own son in the shelter of a manger, and fled far from your homeland for the safety of both Mother and Child.
We praise God that as their faithful protector, you never hesitated to sacrifice for those entrusted to you. May your example inspire us also to welcome, cherish, and safeguard God’s most precious gift of life.
Help us to faithfully commit ourselves to the service and defense of human life —especially where it is vulnerable or threatened. Obtain for us the grace to do the will of God in all things. Amen.