Historically, obtaining abortion pills has been hard. Now, a pilot program launched by Uplift International, an advocate for global health and human rights, in collaboration with online pharmacy Honeybee Health, aims to expand access to abortion care by allowing pharmacists to directly prescribe abortion medication to patients in Washington state. Called the Pharmacist Abortion Access Project (PAAP), the pilot program is the first of its kind in the US. The hope is that other states will follow. When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, constitutional protections for abortions that had been in place since 1973 were repealed. Since then, a dozen states have banned abortions and others have sharply restricted the procedure. This created financial and psychological burdens for patients. "Attacks on access to abortion care have created an urgent medical, public health, and human rights crisis in the United States," says Beth Rivin, president and chief executive officer of Uplift International and managing director of PAAP. Abortion is legal in Washington up to the point of fetal viability. But Rivin says some people in rural areas and those struggling financially can still find it hard to access reproductive health care. Washington's pharmacists have long been recognized as health-care providers. In the PAAP pilot program, 10 pharmacists were trained to prescribe the standard, FDA-approved medications used for early abortion care to patients: misoprostol and mifepristone. By the end of the program, 43 people were prescribed abortion medication through Honeybee Health. The program doesn't mean every pharmacist in Washington will start prescribing abortion pills. But there is interest in similar programs elsewhere. A 2023 survey of more than 900 pharmacy students and pharmacists in California found that, if allowed by law, 75% would be willing to prescribe abortion medication. "Uplift International has created a model," Rivin said. "We encourage leaders in states that have already made progress in advancing abortion access to get in touch with us." — Antonia Mufarech |
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