FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS 鈥 Staff at Planned Parenthood鈥檚 clinic in southern Illinois say they will continue to provide medication abortions as usual, despite a federal appeals court decision late Wednesday restricting access.
The latest court decision states that the abortion pill mifepristone can be used for now, but only before seven weeks of pregnancy instead of 10 or 11; and the drug can no longer be sent by mail or prescribed via telehealth.
However, the chief medical officer of the 狐狸视频 region鈥檚 Planned Parenthood, with an abortion clinic in Fairview Heights, Illinois, said it is sticking with the status quo 鈥 the clinic will continue providing mifepristone up until 11 weeks of pregnancy.
The clinic is the closest location to obtain an abortion for many people in Missouri and the southern U.S.
The appeals court decision lifts a ruling last week by a lower court in Texas that had temporarily blocked the Food and Drug Administration鈥檚 approval of mifepristone. However, a nearly simultaneous and separate federal court decision, reiterated Thursday, in the Eastern District of Washington barred the FDA from 鈥渁ltering the status quo and rights as it relates to the availability of mifepristone鈥 in 17 states 鈥 including Illinois 鈥 and the District of Columbia.
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Mifepristone, which also uses the brand-name Mifeprex, has since been used more than 5 million times to end early pregnancies. About half of all abortions nationwide are medication abortions, which involve using mifepristone as the first of a two-pill regimen. The drug is also commonly used to help manage miscarriages.
The Biden administration on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to intervene and protect the FDA鈥檚 approval of the drug.
鈥淲e are fortunate that both because of the decision out of Washington state and because we have continued strong leadership and and Illinois attorney general that we can continue to provide mifepristone in the way that we know is most consistent with the science,鈥 Dr. Colleen McNicholas, of Planned Parenthood, said Thursday.
鈥淔olks will be able to continue to use that service, accessing their clinician visit via telehealth from the comfort of their home, their car, their workplace; and then we will mail that medication to them at their Illinois address,鈥 she said.
However, leaders with other abortion providers in southern Illinois 鈥 Hope Clinic in Granite City and CHOICES in Carbondale 鈥 say they are still awaiting legal guidance on what to do come Saturday, when the latest restrictions go into effect.
鈥淲e are carefully monitoring the rapidly moving court proceedings and reviewing our internal policies and procedures to make sure we are in compliance with current laws,鈥 said Hope Clinic Chief Operating Officer Michele Landeau.
Since the Carbondale clinic opened in October, medication abortions have made up 75% of abortion procedures there, with most patients traveling from Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi, said Jennifer Pepper, CEO of CHOICES.
鈥淲hile we may not know what that care looks like come Monday, we will continue to provide medication abortion to our patients at our Carbondale clinic in the best way we can,鈥 she said. CHOICES doesn鈥檛 offer telehealth appointments, so patients go in person for an appointment, take one pill at the clinic and are sent home with drugs to be taken within 48 hours.
Pepper said the clinic is preparing to expand access to procedural abortions. CHOICES provides them up to 13 weeks of a pregnancy, although other clinics in Illinois perform them up to 22 weeks.
The clinic will make any other adjustments that lawyers tell them to do, 鈥渂ut we want to provide care that is in line with science and not ideology,鈥 Pepper said.
Regulations
The lawsuit challenging mifepristone鈥檚 approval was brought by the Alliance Defending Freedom, which was also involved in the Mississippi case that led to Roe v. Wade being overturned in June.
At the core of the lawsuit is the allegation that the FDA鈥檚 initial approval of mifepristone in 2000 was flawed because the agency did not adequately review safety risks.
The FDA, leading and drug law experts have strongly disputed the claims made against mifepristone. They argue scientific evidence overwhelmingly shows that the medication is safe.
The latest decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans says the mifepristone can continue to be prescribed but only under the FDA restrictions placed on the drug when it was first approved in 2000.
Those guidelines limited the drug鈥檚 use to seven weeks of pregnancy and required three in-person office visits: the first to administer mifepristone, the second to administer the second drug misoprostol and a third follow-up visit. It also required a doctor鈥檚 supervision. Medical groups argued against these restrictions at the time.
In 2016, the FDA changed the number of in-person visits to one, allowed providers such as advanced nurse practitioners to prescribe the drug and extended the point in pregnancy when the drug could be taken.
In January, after the use of telehealth during the pandemic, the agency permanently lifted the in-person requirement and allowed mail delivery of the pill.
Providers in southern Illinois say going back to the 2000 restrictions would make it difficult for patients living in states where abortion is nearly banned to travel there for a medication abortion.
鈥淲e have so fewer clinics that can provide that care, so the reality is that not many patients can make it from their home to a brick-and-mortar health center at earlier than seven weeks of gestation,鈥 McNicholas said. 鈥淭he mandated multiple in-person visits would absolutely make this out of reach for folks.鈥
The Associated Press contributed to this report.