CONGRESSWOMAN BUSH, SENATOR SMITH INTRODUCE BILL TO PROTECT ACCESS TO MEDICATION ABORTION
Medication abortion accounts for over 50% of all abortion care in U.S.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Cori Bush (MO-01) and Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) introduced the Protecting Access to Medication Abortion Act, legislation that would ensure people seeking abortion care can always access medication abortion through tele-health and certified pharmacies, including mail-order pharmacies. As extremist anti-abortion lawmakers make it their mission to interefere with a person’s reproductive freedom, bans on the mailing of or overall access to medication abortion pills are in jeopardy.
This legislation would protect access to medication abortion pills by codifying the current mifepristone Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) to make sure that those looking to access reproductive healthcare can continue to do so. Medication abortion accounts for over half of all abortion care performed in the United States and remains effective for the first ten weeks of gestation. The regime has been FDA approved for over two decades, can be prescribed without an in-person appointment, and can be safely administered at home.
“Abortion care is healthcare and, therefore, a human right - period,” said Congresswoman Bush. “While extremist anti-abortion lawmakers in states like Missouri use the recent decision made by the stolen Supreme Court to attack a person’s right to bodily autonomy, I remain committed to ensuring everyone in this country can have access to an abortion - no matter where they live. I am proud to join Senator Tina Smith in the effort to protect access to lifesaving medication abortion pills. Our bill will make sure that people can access safe and effective abortion care. Maintaining access to abortion care through medication abortion will save lives.”
“Right now, extremist Republicans are attacking and undermining access to a safe and effective medication because they believe that the government – not women, not their health care providers – should control the health care that doctors provide women,” said Senator Smith. “We need to fight back against Republicans’ ongoing efforts to chip away at women’s reproductive freedoms. Our bill, which would safeguard access to medication abortion, is a critical step that would help protect what remaining access exists to reproductive health care.”
A copy of the bill text is available HERE. A copy of the one-pager is available HERE.
In response to the Dobbs decision, the Protecting Access to Abortion Medication Act would:
- Codify the current mifepristone Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy
- Ensure those seeking abortion care can always access medication abortion through telehealth and certified pharmacies, including mail-order pharmacies.
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Congresswoman Cori Bush sits on the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees, serves as the Progressive Caucus Deputy Whip, and proudly represents St. Louis as a politivist in the halls of the United States Congress.