Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement Friday, in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, that states cannot ban mifepristone, a medication that is used to bring about an abortion, based on disagreement with the federal government on its safety and efficacy.
Why it matters: With Roe overturned, prescribed drugs that terminate pregnancies are likely to become the next major contention between abortion rights activists and opponents of abortion rights.
- Already, almost half of U.S. states have banned or tightly restricted abortion pills — two medicines named mifepristone and misoprostol — and more could soon follow suit, Axios' Oriana Gonzalez, Ashley Gold and Jacque Schrag report.
How it works: Mifepristone and misoprostol have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.
- The agency in December lifted long-standing restrictions on mifepristone, allowing doctors to prescribe the medication online and send them to patients by mail.
- Misoprostol was available with a prescription before the FDA's decision.
Despite the changes, many states have moved to make it illegal for doctors to mail the medications.
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