Washington state tries new way to prescribe abortion pills

Health Care

The Big Story

Washington state tries new way to prescribe abortion pills

A pilot program in Washington state aims to expand access to abortion by allowing pharmacists to directly prescribe abortion medication to patients via telehealth.

The Pharmacist Abortion Access Project (PAAP) was launched by Uplift International, a leading advocate for global health and human rights, in collaboration with Honeybee Health, an online pharmacy.

The program is the first of its kind in the country, but organizers are hopeful that other states will follow. It is launching as abortion rights advocates brace for new attacks on abortion access under the Trump administration.

Anti-abortion lawmakers and activists have increasingly targeted abortion medication and the ability for providers to prescribe the pills online. They say medication abortion is dangerous to a pregnant person’s health; the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for the incoming administration, calls for the enforcement of the Comstock Act in order to criminalize the mailing of abortion pills.

Abortion is legal in Washington state up to the point of fetal viability, but people still face barriers to abortion care, especially if they live in rural areas, are struggling financially or don’t have easy access to reproductive health care, Beth Rivin, president and CEO of Uplift International, said in a statement.

Pharmacists in Washington have been legally recognized as health care providers and authorized to prescribe FDA-approved medications since 1979. Under the pilot, 10 pharmacists were trained to prescribe mifepristone and misoprostol, the standard medication abortion regimen.

Throughout the course of the program, 43 people were prescribed abortion medication through Honeybee Health. Mifepristone is legal to prescribe for someone up to 10 weeks gestation.

Uplift International said it plans to scale up the PAAP across Washington and to explore pharmacists prescribing medication abortion in person from brick-and-mortar pharmacies.

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