Food and Drug Administration allows retail pharmacies in United States to sell abortion pills

Retail pharmacies in the United States will be permitted to sell abortion pills, said health officials on Tuesday, a move that could significantly expand access to the procedure after last year's landmark Supreme Court ruling that overturned federal abortion rights.

Regulatory changes announced by the Food and Drug Administration mean that mifepristone, which is the first of two drugs used to terminate a pregnancy, will be available in local drug stores in states where abortion is permitted.

A doctor's prescription will be needed to obtain the pills,



which were previously only available from a few mail-order pharmacies or certified doctors and clinics.

Demand for abortion pills has risen since the conservative-dominated Supreme Court made a landmark ruling last June that overturned Roe v. Wade, a 1973 case that had guaranteed women's right to an abortion for half a century. Pharmacies will need to receive certification to dispense the drug, while patients will need to complete a consent form.

The FDA's decision was welcomed by the American Civil Liberties Union.