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.
Since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, California politicians have attempted to position the state as a haven for people seeking an abortion - especially when, just months later that same year, voters successfully enshrined the right to an abortion in the state constitution. However, recent federal action and the anti-abortion movement's aggressive tactics have made palpable impacts in the state.
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld West Virginia's law banning FDA-approved medication abortion, marking the first federal court to sanction such a ban and undermining the FDA's regulatory authority.