Massachusetts governor demands that pharmacies dispense abortion pills

A memo from Massachusetts state officials issued March 22 warned pharmacies in stark terms that they must stock and dispense abortion pills. The memo comes from Governor Maura Healy and the Massachusetts Department of Health, citing regulations from the state board that oversees pharmacies.

The memo issues a stern reminder that all licensed pharmacies, by state law, must “maintain a continuous, sufficient supply of all family planning medications, including mifepristone (Mifeprex®), misoprostol (Cytotec®), emergency contraception, and contraceptive prescriptions to meet the needs of the community.” It also threatens consequences for any pharmacist “that refuses to stock and/or procure, dispense, and/or fill any valid prescription and/or order for family planning medications, or impedes access in any way to any such medications.”

Despite what abortion activists claim, induced abortion is not health care; it is the direct and intentional ending of a preborn life — which is not medically necessary. The abortion pill has come under scrutiny in recent days as a judge reviews the FDA’s original approval of the abortion drug Mifeprex. The majority of abortions are committed via the abortion pill, a drug considered by abortion supporters too essential to allow certain safety measures to get in the way of its dispensation. Abortion industry insiders have advocated for dispensing it to women who aren’t pregnant, dispensing it without verifying the baby’s gestational age and implantation in the uterus, and encouraging patients to lie about having taken the pill to conceal potential complications. Complications of the pill are known to be vastly underreported, and studies have shown that approximately 6% of women who took the abortion pill ended up seeking treatment in ERs or urgent care as a result of complications.

“Here in Massachusetts, we will always protect access to reproductive care, including abortion,” Governor Healey stated in the memo. “At a time when states are rushing to ban medication abortion and some pharmacies are irresponsibly restricting access to it, we are reminding Massachusetts pharmacies that they have an obligation to provide critical reproductive health medications, including Mifepristone. It’s safe, effective, and legal.” 

The memo comes as the latest of the state of Massachusetts’ enactment of a radical pro-abortion agenda. Shortly after the Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade, then-governor Charlie Baker signed an expansive abortion bill into law. The state has also targeted pregnancy resource centers offering free and life-affirming services to women and children, and a politician came under fire for suggesting that abortion is necessary for disabled babies, lest they become drains on the state.  

Massachusetts Citizens for Life pushed back against the memo, speaking out against the move in a Facebook post. “Governor Healey, your job is to protect the women and girls of Massachusetts,” it read. “These abortion drugs have proven to be dangerous, even deadly — always to an unborn child, and sometimes to a mother. Medical abortion is not healthcare. Don’t force it on our pharmacies.”

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