# Protecting Access to Medication Abortion Act of 2023

This bill would protect a woman's right to obtain medication abortion—a type of abortion performed using pills rather than surgery—by preventing states from banning or restricting these medications. Right now, some states have passed laws that make it illegal to prescribe or use abortion pills, even in the early stages of pregnancy. This bill would override those state bans and ensure that medication abortion remains available nationwide.

The bill specifically protects two drugs commonly used together for medication abortion: mifepristone and misoprostol. These pills have been used safely in the United States for over 20 years. Under this law, states couldn't prohibit doctors from prescribing these medications, and they couldn't prosecute women for using them. It would also allow these medications to be mailed to patients, which is important for people in rural areas or places where abortion clinics are far away. The bill would essentially create a federal floor of protection that no state could go below, even if that state wanted to ban abortion entirely.

The practical effect would be significant for women in states with strict abortion laws. Instead of having to travel to another state for an abortion, someone could potentially get medication abortion through telehealth—talking to a doctor online and having pills mailed to their home. This would make early abortion more accessible and private for many people. However, the bill would only apply to medication abortion in the early stages of pregnancy, not to surgical abortion procedures or later-term abortions, which would still be subject to state laws.

Protecting Access to Medication Abortion Act of 2023

Smith, Tina

Protecting Access to Medication Abortion Act of 2023 This bill requires the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ensure that patients may receive mifepristone through prescriptions issued via telehealth and filled by mail. The FDA has approved mifepristone for medication abortions (i.e., a procedure in which prescription drugs are used to terminate a pregnancy). (Mifepristone is subject to a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy, which imposes various safety-related requirements. During the COVID-19 public health emergency, the FDA suspended enforcement of a requirement that the drug must be dispensed in person, a requirement in the strategy at the time. In January 2023, the FDA updated the strategy to remove the in-person dispensing requirement.) Under this bill, the FDA must ensure that the strategy for mifepristone (1) does not have an in-person dispensing requirement, (2) allows patients to access prescriptions for mifepristone via telehealth, and (3) authorizes all pharmacies certified to dispense mifepristone to patients to do so via mail.