State-level abortion bans leave some patients unable to access key medication, including drugs that aren't necessarily abortion- related, as the Department of Health and Human Services said Wednesday afternoon.
A pharmacy manager retrieves a bottle of antibiotics from the shelf
According to the guidance from the civil rights office of the HHS, any pharmacy that doesn't fill prescriptions for drugs that can end pregnancies may be discriminating on the basis of disability or sex.
There are a few examples of possible discrimination, like refusing to fill a medication that is used for medication abortions but also prescribed to patients who have had a miscarriage, withholding a patient's prescription for methotrexate, and declining to fill it.
Birth control and emergency contraception are contraceptives that can prevent pregnancies.
HHS didn't say how it will enforce this policy or how it will deal with conflicting state laws. Patients can file discrimination complaints with HHS according to a federal official.
Several states enacted near-total bans on abortion, including medication abortions, which advocates hope will remain more accessible since patients can get the pills through the mail from other states. State-level restrictions on abortion medication are controversial. According to the Department of Justice, states can't ban the abortion drug because they disagree with the FDA's decision to approve it. State laws have made it difficult to use drugs that aren't used for abortion-related care. Some people with autoimmune conditions have reported difficulty getting methotrexate because of its alternate use to terminated pregnancies, and a Texas doctor told Slate some pharmacists are wary of filling prescriptions for misoprostol.
This is the second time this week that HHS has given guidance to healthcare providers. According to the agency, federal law requires hospitals to provide abortions in life threatening and emergency situations.
There is a Mississippi case that could keep medication abortion legal even in states that have banned it.
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