FDA will permanently allow abortion pills by mail. But that remains a crime in Texas

The federal government has made it easier for pregnant people to access abortion pills. But the regulatory change will have no immediate effect in Texas, where the two most restrictive abortion laws in the nation remain in place.

The Food and Drug Administration decided this month it would permanently codify a pandemic-era change that allowed abortion pills to be prescribed via telemedine and mailed directly to patients, instead of requiring that they be given to patients in person. But because of a new Texas law that specifically requires abortion pills to be dispensed in person, the FDA’s change will mean little for Texas women who want to end their pregnancies via pill.

“The federal rules have relaxed this requirement, but states are stepping forward and imposing their own,” said Yvette Lindgren, a reproductive rights and justice scholar at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law.

Mifepristone is the only drug specifically approved by the FDA for use in medication abortion. It blocks hormones needed to continue a pregnancy, and is usually followed by a second drug, misoprostol, 24 to 48 hours later.

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