In 2023, under then-Gov. Jay Inslee, Washington spent $1.3 million in taxpayer dollars to purchase a stockpile of mifepristone... But nearly two years later, the state has no plan for distribution. In January, those medications are set to be destroyed.

Rather than solving the problem... 17,600 doses of mifepristone and 61,500 doses of misoprostol... are also sitting in storage with no plan to reach patients, and some doses will expire as early as March 2026. 

... If the initial stock purchased is distributed before it expires in January, the state could provide safe abortions for up to 30,000 people...

... Experts have repeatedly offered to help craft a distribution plan. Other states that purchased abortion medication stockpiles after Washington have successfully distributed medications to clinics or provided funding directly to providers to purchase their own stockpiles. However, Washington impaired itself with a statute requiring the drugs be sold at the state’s cost plus a $5 handling fee — despite having paid more than the provider rate — making it harder and more expensive to move the supply at all....

Inslee OK’d the purchase of another 17,600 doses shortly before leaving office in January, costing $757,000...

... The extra 17,600 doses expire in late 2028 and early 2029, [Brionna] Aho [spokesperson for Gov. Bob Ferguson] noted. On that purchase, the supplier agreed to accept unused doses when they expire and exchange them for new pills at no cost to the state. So destroying those pills will likely be unnecessary.

A separate stockpile of misoprostol expiring in February and March 2026 may also need to be destroyed, Aho said.

University of Washington Medicine had its own 10,000-pill stockpile of mifepristone. All of it has been distributed to clinics in the state, said spokesperson Susan Gregg.

In 2023, under then-Gov. Jay Inslee, Washington spent $1.3 million in taxpayer dollars to purchase a stockpile of mifepristone... But nearly two years later, the state has no plan for distribution. In January, those medications are set to be destroyed.

Rather than solving the problem... 17,600 doses of mifepristone and 61,500 doses of misoprostol... are also sitting in storage with no plan to reach patients, and some doses will expire as early as March 2026. 

... If the initial stock purchased is distributed before it expires in January, the state could provide safe abortions for up to 30,000 people...

... Experts have repeatedly offered to help craft a distribution plan. Other states that purchased abortion medication stockpiles after Washington have successfully distributed medications to clinics or provided funding directly to providers to purchase their own stockpiles. However, Washington impaired itself with a statute requiring the drugs be sold at the state’s cost plus a $5 handling fee — despite having paid more than the provider rate — making it harder and more expensive to move the supply at all....

Inslee OK’d the purchase of another 17,600 doses shortly before leaving office in January, costing $757,000...

... The extra 17,600 doses expire in late 2028 and early 2029, [Brionna] Aho [spokesperson for Gov. Bob Ferguson] noted. On that purchase, the supplier agreed to accept unused doses when they expire and exchange them for new pills at no cost to the state. So destroying those pills will likely be unnecessary.

A separate stockpile of misoprostol expiring in February and March 2026 may also need to be destroyed, Aho said.

University of Washington Medicine had its own 10,000-pill stockpile of mifepristone. All of it has been distributed to clinics in the state, said spokesperson Susan Gregg.