California Legislative Assembly passed a bill on September 10th that allows doctors to prescribe the abortion pill Mifepristone through online consultations and permits the medication to be mailed out of state. The bill, AB260, has been sent to Governor Gavin Newsom for signature.
The AB260 bill protects medical service providers, pharmacists, clinics, and hospitals from penalties for prescribing or dispensing Mifepristone. Pharmacists are not required to label patient names, prescribing physicians, pharmacy names, or addresses on the medication bottles when dispensing abortion drugs.
The bill also mandates that medication abortion be covered by insurance, including California’s Medi-Cal program, and aims to increase the accessibility of the drugs through telehealth services. Pharmacists must maintain prescription records, which cannot be provided to law enforcement without a subpoena or disclosed to residents of other states.
Mifepristone, approved by the FDA in 2000, is a medication used in combination with another drug, Misoprostol, to terminate pregnancies. In May of this year, Health Secretary Xavier Becerra announced a review of the safety of these drugs.
If Governor Newsom signs AB260, it would authorize the California Department of Health to establish specific regulations regarding Mifepristone and other abortion drugs, including exemptions to certain requirements when these drugs are no longer FDA-approved.
Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, the sponsor of the bill and Democratic leader of the California State Assembly, emphasized the importance of the bill in light of federal efforts to restrict access to the drug and proposed cuts in healthcare funding in the state.
However, critics argue that AB260 overlooks risks to women associated with medical abortions.
The California Family Council opposes the bill, citing complications linked to medication abortion. The council referred to a study from April, which found that nearly 11% of Mifepristone users experienced severe adverse reactions such as bleeding, sepsis, or infection.
“AB260 is not about protecting women but rather promoting the abortion agenda, while disregarding the risks to mothers,” said Greg Burt, the council’s vice president. “Increasing evidence shows that chemical abortion, although common, can harm women, yet politicians choose to ignore or deliberately conceal this evidence.”
The bill reflects California’s ongoing efforts to safeguard abortion rights in the wake of the 2022 United States Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision.
The Dobbs decision overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide, returning the decision on abortion legality to individual states.
Since the Dobbs decision, 12 states in the United States have enforced complete abortion bans, including Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia.
Other states have implemented varying degrees of restrictions, while California, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Illinois, New York, Vermont, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, and Hawaii have expanded access to abortion services. ◇