In the weeks since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, pharmacies across the country have refused to fill certain prescriptions that are the same as or similar to the drugs used in medication abortion. But many of these drugs are used for miscarriage care and ectopic pregnancies, as well as for unrelated health issues like arthritis and stomach ulcers.
The Department of Health and Human Services issued a memo on Wednesday in which it reminded pharmacists at the 60,000 pharmacies that receive federal dollars that they are obligated under federal civil rights law to ensure access to comprehensive reproductive health care services and administer prescribed medication — regardless of whether the recipient is pregnant or able to get pregnant.
The HHS guidance points to several sections of the Affordable Care Act that ensure pharmacies cannot discriminate against customers “with regard to supplying medications; making determinations regarding the suitability of a prescribed medication for a patient; or advising patients about medications and how to take them.”
Medication abortion is made up of two types of drugs: mifepristone and misoprostol. When used together, these drugs are commonly used for miscarriage care and abortion care before the 12 weeks of pregnancy.
The department was prompted to underline its existing guidance on these drugs because there have been dozens of reports of people being denied them due to confusion since Roe was repealed, according to a senior HHS official. This has even been reported in states where medication abortion is legal or in cases where the medication was being used to save the life of the pregnant person. Some women have also reported pharmacists refusing to fill prescriptions for certain forms of mifepristone even though it was prescribed prior to an IUD insertion.
But drugs similar to mifepristone and misoprostol, or other reproductive health care prescriptions like birth control or emergency contraception, have also been caught up in the confusion of a post-Roe world. Heartburn medication has been pulled in some Texas pharmacies because its makeup is similar to that of abortion medications. Some doctors reportedly stopped…
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