US tells pharmacists not to withhold pills that can cause abortion

New Biden administration guidelines have warned that failure to dispense such drugs “may be discriminatory” on the basis of gender or gender. disability, citing other conditions they can treat.

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Wednesday warned the nation's 60,000 retail pharmacies they risk violating federal civil rights law if they refuse to fill prescriptions for pills that can induce abortion - the second time this week that he has used his executive authority to stage confrontations with states where abortion is now illegal.

In four pages of advice, the federal Department of Health and Human Services ticked off a range of conditions - including miscarriages, stomach ulcers and ectopic pregnancies - that are typically treated with drugs that can cause abortion. He warned that failure to distribute such pills "may be discriminatory" on the basis of gender or disability.

The advice came two days after Xavier Becerra, President Biden's health secretary, told hospitals that even in states where abortion is now illegal, federal law requires doctors to perform abortions for pregnant women who come to their wards. emergency if they believe it is "necessary stabilization treatment" to resolve an emergency medical condition.

The consecutive actions clearly indicate that if Mr. Biden's power to preserve access to abortion is limited after the Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to process last month, he will push those limits where he can. Legal experts on both sides of the issue have agreed in interviews that the administration is trying to assert that federal law prevails over that of states that have banned abortion, a decision that would almost surely be challenged in court.

"They're trying to identify federal laws that in some way will supersede state abortion restrictions and bans," said Lawrence O. Gostin, a public health law expert at Georgetown University. Of advice to pharmacists, he said: "The obvious goal is to have abortifacient drugs in stock to treat a range of medical conditions and to be available for abortion."

Still, the new guidelines are carefully written and avoid telling pharmacies that they must supply the drugs for the purpose of medical abortion, which is prohibited or restricted in some states. The guidelines also do not specify how a provision of federal law called the Church Amendments would apply. This measure allows health care providers, including pharmacists, not to perform or attend abortions if they have religious or moral objections. methotrexate - which are often prescribed for other conditions but can also cause abortions. Experts said the administration was reacting to reports that women of childbearing age were being denied the drugs after the ruling.

Mifepristone is used to manage certain patients with a hormonal disorder called Cushing's syndrome, and misoprostol is prescribed for ulcers. But they are also cleared by the Food and Drug Administration as a two-drug combination that can be taken to end a pregnancy for the first 10 weeks, and can also be used in combination after a miscarriage. Methotrexate is used to treat autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, as well as cancer.

"These are completely legitimate issues for people who are worried about having access to the basic drugs they have been receiving for years, simply because these drugs have the ability to terminate a pregnancy," said Alina Salganicoff, director of women's health policy at the