The Health and Human Services Department warned U.S. retail pharmacy that they could be in violation of civil rights law if they denied access to abortion medication.
According to the HHS Office for Civil Rights, a pharmacy cannot deny access to reproductive health-care on the basis of a customer's sex, pregnancy status and other protected groups.
The abortion pill may be prescribed to help with first-trimester abortions. According to HHS guidance, the medication can be used to end a pregnancies.
If a pharmacy doesn't fill a prescription for methotrexate, they could be in violation of civil rights law.
An official at the Department of Health and Human Services told reporters on a call that people can file a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights if they think a pharmacy discriminates against them. The complaints will be reviewed on a case by case basis.
According to guidance issued to the nation's 60,000 retail pharmacies by the HHS, vigorous enforcement of our civil rights laws is one way in which we intend to do so.
Federal financial assistance recipients are not allowed to discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin or age. According to the HHS, federal civil rights law prohibits discrimination on the basis of current, past or intended pregnancies.
The Biden administration and states that are banning abortion in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision are at odds over the use of medication to end pregnancies.
Mifepristone was approved by the FDA more than two decades ago as a safe and effective way to end a pregnant woman's life. The FDA said in December that it would allow women to get the pill by mail.
States that have banned abortion in the wake of the Supreme Court's ruling have also banned the administration of drugs that help end pregnancies. When the woman's life is in danger, the abortion ban makes exceptions.
The Justice Department will take action against states that ban the drug because they disagree with the FDA. Most states immediately banned the administration or prescription of abortion-inducing medication after the Supreme Court ruling due to the fact that it terminates a pregnant woman.
The Center for Reproductive Rights wants the Biden administration to declare a public health emergency in order to expand access to reproductive healthcare. The president asked health officials in his administration to look at the impact a public health emergency would have on abortion access.
Jen Klein, director of the White House Gender Policy Council, told reporters on Friday that the administration decided against declaring a public health emergency.
The public health emergency doesn't free a lot of resources.
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