"A California bill that would allow health care providers to anonymously mail abortion drugs could soon become law, marking the latest effort by a blue state to safeguard access to medication abortion. The two-drug regimen of mifepristone and misoprostol is used in more than 60% of abortions in the U.S., and roughly a quarter of abortions are now done via telehealth, according to the Society of Family Planning."
"Under the measure, which the legislature is considering this week, doctors, pharmacists and others authorized to prescribe the drugs to end a pregnancy could leave their name off the prescription label. Abortion rights advocates say the measure adds to protections already on the books under the state's existing shield law, one of a handful nationwide that protects doctors who mail abortion pills out of state by shielding them from extradition and other legal actions from states with abortion bans."
""We've now had a solid two years of shield law provision, and like a lot of things, with real-world experience, we've identified areas [of the law] that can be strengthened or made more explicit," said Dr. Angel Foster, a co-founder of the Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project, a clinic near Boston that mails pills to patients in states with abortion bans."
The bill would allow doctors, pharmacists and other authorized prescribers to omit their names from prescription labels when mailing mifepristone and misoprostol. Mifepristone and misoprostol are used in more than 60% of U.S. abortions, and roughly a quarter of abortions are now provided via telehealth. Existing shield laws protect providers who mail abortion pills out of state from extradition and other legal actions. Shield laws have enabled roughly 12,000 abortions per month, mostly for patients in states that ban or severely restrict abortion. Several states have adopted anonymous-prescribing protections to reduce legal risk and harassment for providers.
Read at www.npr.org
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