Good news for Americans: the US health authority FDA has decided that pharmacies will soon be allowed to sell abortion pills under certain conditions. As a result, millions of Americans will have easier access to abortion, after the Supreme Court made it a lot more difficult last summer.
The sale of abortion pills through a pharmacy will not be legal in all states, but only in those where abortion is allowed. Last year, the national right to abortion was abolished in the US, making it almost completely illegal to have an abortion in a number of states. Since then, the demand for (illegal) abortion pills in other states has risen sharply.
The American news site Politico expects that selling the abortion pill in a pharmacy will benefit unwanted pregnancies in states where abortion is banned. They can now simply cross the border to get pills in a state where pharmacies are allowed to dispense them. In addition, pharmacies are now also allowed to send abortion pills by post. For many people who do not have the money to make a long journey, this is a godsend.
It is not yet clear whether pharmacies that will soon be allowed to dispense the pills will also be open to actually doing so. They don’t have to do it for the money, writes The New York Times. The sale of abortion pills accounts for only a small share of a pharmacy’s turnover.
If a pharmacy decides to sell the pills anyway, this will have a major impact on the image of the pharmacy, according to the American newspaper. “Especially in view of the polarized political landscape.”
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