Abortion Pill Tracker

Take Action On Abortion Pills

Causes.com is your source for up-to-date information about abortion pills and efforts to ban or expand access to Plan B, mifepristone, and misoprostol.

We'll provide the latest info on available products, legal battles, Texas bans, and Walgreens boycotts. Take Action Now: Tell your reps & your retailers if you support or oppose bans on abortion pills.

Access the latest information on medication abortion here...

• The Biden administration filed an emergency application to the Supreme Court requesting the justices pause parts of an appeals court ruling that limited the accessibility of the abortion pill.
• The application asked the court to allow the drug, mifepristone, to remain widely available while the government pursues an appeal. 
• This is the first major abortion case to reach the Supreme Court since Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022.
• The application criticizes the court’s ruling, saying the plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge a drug they do not take, prescribe, or understand scientifically. A second emergency application was filed by Danco Laboratories, manufacturer of the branded version of mifepristone. The company’s lawyers said the justices should defer to the FDA’s scientific expertise in determining that the drug is safe and effective. 

Do you think the Supreme Court should restore nationwide access to the abortion pill?

Appeals Court Saves Partial Access to Abortion Pills, With Limitations

• A federal appeals court announced it would allow partial access to mifepristone, the abortion pill that Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk of the Northern District of Texas banned the sale of last week.
• Accessibility to the drug will still be limited — the appeals court declined to block parts of Kacsmaryk’s order, which reinstates restrictions on the accessibility of the pill that were initially lifted in 2016. 
• The restrictions include requiring an in-person doctor visit to prescribe and dispense the drug, limiting the approval of its use to the first seven weeks of pregnancy rather than 10, and banning the distribution of the drug through mail. 
• The Justice Department is stepping in to condemn the court's decision to dial back access to the pill. The Supreme Court has yet to say whether it will take up the case. 

Do you support limiting the abortion pill nationwide?

Texas Judge Makes Abortion Pill Sales Illegal Nationwide

• District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk suspended the approval of the abortion pill mifepristone — technically making its sale illegal in the U.S. — in a groundbreaking legal decision in Amarillo, Texas, on Friday.
• In Jan., the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) changed its regulations to allow pharmacies to obtain certification to offer abortion pills for the first time in the country’s history, increasing access for women nationwide. The decision provoked a dozen states to pass laws limiting the sale of the pills.
• Immediately after the decision in Texas, Obama appointee District Judge Thomas Rice in Washington issued a contradictory ruling, ordering the FDA not to make any changes to mifepristone access across seventeen Democrat-led states.
• The Department of Justice is seeking an emergency stay of Kacsmaryk’s order from the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which would stop the order from taking effect until the court hears a full appeal. Both rulings were issued before the cases were heard, making them preliminary injunctions.
• The White House’s Gender Policy Council, Inter-Governmental Affairs, and the vice president’s office have held strategy meetings on increasing abortion access for the last few months in anticipation of Judge Kacsmaryk’s ruling.

Do you support outlawing the abortion pill?

Wyoming Bans Abortion Pill, Texas Judge Considers National Ban

• The abortion pill, mifepristone, has been banned in Wyoming days before Texas judge Matthew Kacsmaryk is set to consider ruling in favor of a nationwide ban on the pill.
• The bill was passed by the state's Republican-controlled legislature and was signed into law by Republican Gov. Mark Gordon on Friday. It will come into effect on July 1 of this year.
• Wyoming's new bill bans the distribution, sale, and prescription of the pill, and violations of the law will be classed as a misdemeanor. It will be punishable by up to six months in jail or a $9,000 fine.
• Gordon also allowed a second bill, the Life is a Human Right Act, to become law without his signature yesterday. It is a sweeping ban on abortion except in limited circumstances like incest, assault, or when the pregnant person's life or the fetus is in danger.

Do you support or oppose more states banning medication abortion?

Texas Judge Considers Banning Abortion Pill in U.S.

• Judge Matthew Macsmaryk, a Trump appointee, is considering revoking the FDA's approval of mifepristone, a ruling that could have an immediate impact on access to the medication nationwide. 
• While medication abortions have been approved for use by the FDA for twenty years, anti-abortion activists claim that the FDA did not sufficiently test the safety of mifepristone before approving its use. 
• Around 98% of medical abortions in the U.S. use mifepristone, combined with misoprostol, and there have been 26 deaths associated with the drug since 2000 - a rate of 0.65 deaths per 100,000 medical abortions. For comparison: the mortality rate of habitual aspirin use is around 15.3 deaths per 100,000 aspirin users.

Contact your reps: Should the U.S. ban medication abortion?

Walgreens Refuses To Sell Abortion Pills in 21 States, Sparking Boycott

• Walgreens is facing backlash for its decision not to sell the medication abortion pill mifepristone after lawmakers in twenty states threatened the drugstore giant with legal consequences if they sell or ship the drug to residents. 
• Walgreens said it would not sell abortion drugs in Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, and Montana  — states where abortion remains legal — but has not provided a reason. CVS and Rite Aid have not made any specific announcements.
• California is boycotting Walgreens, ending its $54 million contract that enabled the pharmacy to supply prescription drugs for the California Department of General Services (DGS). The contract will end on May 1, 2023.

Will you stand up for abortion care and boycott Walgreens?

Alabama AG: People Will Be Prosecuted Over Abortion Pills

• Twenty-two Republican-led states have voiced approval for a nationwide injunction on the use of medication abortions.
• The state attorneys filed a brief asking the U.S. District Court in Amarillo to block the Food and Drug Administration's 2000 approval of mifepristone.
• Twenty-two Democratic attorneys generals opposed the injunction, arguing that it "would be nothing short of catastrophic." The Republican brief says that the FDA:

"[H]as acted to establish a nationwide regime of on-demand abortion ... in defiance of federal and state laws protecting life, health, and safety."

How do you feel about decreased access to medication abortions? Tell Your Reps:

Alternatives to Plan B for Emergency Contraception

• Plan B is one of the most popular forms of emergency contraception today, but it's not the only one available. Various other morning-after options do the same thing and work in the same way — stopping the process of ovulation in order to prevent pregnancy. 

Click here for more information - and ways to access - ella, Take Action, AfterPill, Paragard, and birth control pills. 

Mexico Helping Americans Get Abortion Meds – Should More Countries?

• Organizations in Mexico are intensifying efforts to help Americans seeking abortions after the Supreme Court ended the constitutional right to abortion.
• Volunteer organizations have helped thousands of people across Mexico access abortion medication without visiting an abortion provider. They're now expanding their model to the U.S., training volunteers, distributing pills, and providing networks of support outside of the traditional medical system.
• Verónica Cruz, the founder of Las Libres, one of the earliest abortion support networks in Mexico, said:

“In the U.S., people may fear abortion itself because it is being restricted, but overall I think it’s about the stigma of having abortions at home and beliefs that abortions are only safe if they occur in a clinic…the United States is very late to this advancement.”

Should organizations outside the U.S. help Americans seeking abortions?

Floating Health Clinics & Other Workarounds to Abortion Bans

• A California doctor has proposed building a floating abortion clinic on a ship in federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico, to allow women in Southern states to access first-trimester surgical abortions, medical abortions, contraception, STI testing, and other care.
• Obstetrician and gynecologist Dr. Meg Autry is fundraising for the project, titled PRROWESS: Protecting Reproductive Rights of Women Endangered by State Statutes. The organization says:

“The vessel will be Coast Guard inspected and will have helicopter access for transport and emergencies. Our research indicates that patients are willing to seek care in a floating clinic, and these types of facilities have been used by the military and relief organizations for years.”

How do you feel about proposed workarounds to abortion bans?