Study: Most abortion pill prescriptions filled by mail-order pharmacies

A study recently published in JAMA found that, in states where telehealth abortion was allowed, less than 2% of abortion pill prescriptions were filled by retail (brick-and-mortar) pharmacies.

Despite the small retail pharmacy percentage, 97% of prescriptions were filled via mail-order pharmacies, with the deadly drugs mailed directly to the purchaser. The study did not capture "mifepristone dispensed in person at clinics or mailed by clinics directly to patients."

Key Takeaways:

• According to a JAMA study, just 2% of abortion pill prescriptions were filled by brick-and-mortar retail pharmacies in states where telehealth abortion is allowed, while 97% were filled by mail-order pharmacies.

• The Guttmacher Institute's latest report indicates that 65% of all abortions are now done by pill, up from 63% in years prior.

• Live Action News has estimated that 731,900+ abortions were committed by pill in 2025, which translates to 60,992 abortions by pill per month; 2,005 per day; 84 per hour; and one every 44 seconds.

The Details:

Study and Conclusions

The study — "Changes in Mifepristone Use at Pharmacies After Removal of the FDA In-Person Dispensing Requirement," published April 13, 2026, in JAMA — sought to determine "whether removing the in-person dispensing requirement on mifepristone affected access through pharmacies."

Authors concluded that since the FDA's removal of the in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone in January of 2023:

• 'Telehealth' abortion pill distribution "increased from 5% of all 86,970 abortions in May 2022 to 28% of the 95,270 abortions in June 2025," according to WeCount.

• It "was associated with a large increase in individuals filling mifepristone prescriptions at pharmacies, almost exclusively through mail order for individuals in states where abortion is legal and telehealth prescribing is permitted."

Reuters summarized it this way:

Research ​from the University of Southern California published in the medical journal JAMA, showed ⁠that since January 2023, pharmacies have filled about 2,700 mifepristone prescriptions monthly.

In the ​27 states and the District of Columbia where telehealth abortion is allowed, fewer than 2% ​of those prescriptions were filled at physical retail pharmacies.

In 11 states where abortion is legal but telehealth access is restricted, some 61% of prescriptions were filled at in-store pharmacies, the study found.

According to MedPageToday.com, while there were limitations to the study, authors found that:

Nearly all (99.2%) of the mifepristone fills after the policy change were in states in which abortion was legal with telehealth allowed, which had an increase of 2,398.4 users per month (P<0.001). Only 1.8% of these fills were at retail pharmacies, with the rest being mail-order.

But in the post-policy period in states where abortion is legal with telehealth restrictions, 39.4% of mifepristone users filled at mail-order pharmacies and 60.6% at retail pharmacies.

...Monthly mifepristone users peaked in June 2023. Prescriptions were primarily received from advanced practice providers and primary care physicians. In all, the database included 71,703 people age 15 to 49 who filled 80,388 mifepristone prescriptions during the study period. Mean age was 28.6.

News-Medical.net added:

Just a fraction of prescriptions for the abortion pill mifepristone were filled at brick-and-mortar retail pharmacies after federal drug regulators lifted longstanding dispensing limits, according to a new USC study in JAMA...

In these states, in-store pharmacies accounted for less than 2% of individuals using pharmacies to fill their mifepristone prescription since the FDA updated dispensing requirements under the drug safety program known as Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS).

These were largely fills at independent pharmacies rather than chains (92% vs. 8%).

Kristan Hawkins

@KristanHawkins

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Not sure who needs to hear this today: pharmacies are meant for real healthcare, not DIY abortions. When retail pharmacies were given the option to dispense Chemical Abortion Pills in 2023, many declined. In fact, fewer than 2% are participating in states where it’s legal.

6:14 PM · Apr 14, 2026

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Study Authors and Methodology

Authors included Christopher Scannell, MD, Pragya Kakani, and Rebecca Myerson. Lead author Dima Mazen Qato is a member of the pro-abortion World Health Organization Sexual and Reproductive Health Unit Task Force.

While no funding sources were disclosed, the WHO previously received $500K from the David and Lucille Packard Foundation, an original abortion pill investor, to update its Abortion Care Guideline, which recommends pharmacy worker involvement in abortion.

Authors used data that purported to "cover more than 90% of retail pharmacies and 60% to 85% of mail-order pharmacies," wrote MedPage.com.

The media outlet cited abortionist Daniel Grossman, who has concerning ties to Big Abortion:

However, Grossman noted the possibility that a few high-volume pharmacies might not have been included, adding to the gap in the database coverage of mifepristone use. He also noted that Qato's study doesn't answer questions about the proportion of brick-and-mortar pharmacies that are dispensing and if dispensing varies by chain versus independent ownership.

PeoplesPharmacy.com claimed in April that there are over 60,000 pharmacies across the United States. While the number of independent pharmacies are again increasing, the National Community Pharmacists Association’s NCPA Digest estimated the number of independent pharmacies fell from 19,432 in June 2023 to 18,984 in June 2024.

Retail and Online Abortion Pill Pharmacies

In 2023, generic abortion pill manufacturer GenBioPro (GBP) began publishing the names of certified retail pharmacies (including university and independent hospital pharmacies) who agreed to be publicly named. In addition, multiple mail-order pharmacies had already begun to dispense the abortion pill.

Abortion pill manufacturer Danco’s website publishes a shorter list of certified pharmacies than GBP, acknowledging “Not all certified pharmacies dispensing MIFEPREX have elected to be listed here.” Live Action News previously documented:

• Retail abortion pill pharmacy giants Walgreens and CVS partnered with Big Abortion and have recently expanded dispensing of abortion pills to more states.

• University and hospital pharmacies — as well as dozens of locally-owned pharmacies — are also becoming certified.

• Others have held the line against dispensing the abortion pill, such as Costco Wholesale, Walmart, and Albertsons, which “currently do not offer the medicine,” as of August 2025. Kroger and Sam’s Club stated in late 2024 that their pharmacies also were not selling the abortion pill mifepristone and that any appearance to the contrary was due to a third-party error.

Today, it appears that online pharmacy dispensaries, rather than brick and mortar pharmacy dispensaries, are filling the bulk of abortion pill orders.

• Danco identified: American Mail Order Pharmacy (AMOP) and Manifest Pharmacy.

• GenBioPro named: American Mail Order Pharmacy (AMOP) and Honeybee Health but later included ArloRx.

Abortion Pill Data

"In 2023, medication abortion accounted for 65% of all clinician-provided abortions in the United States; by contrast, this method accounted for 53% of abortions in 2020," the Guttmacher Institute wrote in its latest estimated report.

1st Trimester Abortion | The Abortion Pill | What Is Abortion?

Live Action News estimated that 731,900 or more abortions were committed by pill in 2025, which translates to 60,992 abortions by pill per month; 2,005 per day; 84 per hour; and one every 44 seconds.

Grossman claimed to MedPageToday.com that the latest retail pharmacy data set...

... appeared to represent only a sliver of the some 60,000 medication abortions (nearly half by telehealth) that occur in the U.S. each month based on estimates from the Guttmacher Institute and the Society of Family Planning's WeCount reports.

"Some of it is that a large proportion of medication abortions during this period were provided by clinicians with medications dispensed in clinic or directly mailed from the clinic or telehealth service to the patient," Grossman claimed.

Timeline:

2000: The abortion pill, mifepristone (200mg)/Mifeprex, was approved by the FDA and placed under a safety system known as REMS in 2011.

2016: Big Abortion conspired to erode the REMS on the drug. The Obama FDA weakened the REMS, even removing the requirement to report the drug's adverse events other than deaths.

2020: Planned Parenthood began offering telehealth services at all of its affiliates (49 at the time), and as they continue to shutter brick and mortar facilities are moving toward Virtual Health Centers (VHC).

2023: Despite a prohibition under the federal Comstock Act, Biden's FDA weakened the REMS again to remove the in-person dispensing requirement and allow for mail order and pharmacy dispensing of the drug.

2024: Washington state announced a pilot program allowing pharmacists to prescribe as well as dispense abortion pills — without women seeing a doctor first.

2025: Chemical abortion drug accounts for 65% of estimated abortions nationally.

Why It Matters:

“Abortion stigma” has been cited as part of the reason many doctors are hesitant to prescribe the abortion pill. The abortion industry has known for years that medical staffers are reluctant to be on a list of clinicians prescribing or stocking abortion pills. To resolve this decades old problem, abortion industry insiders conspired to erode the FDA's REMS and double the number of abortion providers who offer the deadly drug.

As a result, the abortion industry lowered the standard of care for women by passing laws allowing non-physicians to commit abortions — including nurses, certified nurse-midwives, and physicians’ assistants.

In 2020, abortion insiders sought to sneak the abortion pill into pharmacies worldwide under guise of treating other conditions. They alleged if they could get the drug on the pharmacy shelf for "other indications" it would be difficult to remove it.

As the drug is shipped by mail, a growing concern lingers regarding the stability of abortion drugs.

The Context:

One study alleging that pharmacists support dispensing abortion drugs revealed :

• A lack of understanding among pharmacists about risks associated with the abortion drug.

• Barely half of pharmacists (51%) understood the percentage of patients requiring blood transfusions.

• Just 53% understood the risks of taking mifepristone.

• Just 53% understood minor consent laws for abortion.

• Just one-third (30%) understood adverse effects such as fever and chills.

• Acknowledged hesitancy among some pharmacists to dispense abortion-inducing drugs.

Dr. Christina Francis, CEO of the American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG) condemned enabling pharmacies to "become abortion facilities," claiming that pharmacists "are not qualified to rule out contraindications..."

EWTN Pro-Life Weekly

@EWTNProLife

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"The FDA has set up this situation where women's lives are going to be actively endangered because of not having appropriate safeguards in place..." @aaplog's @DrFrancis4Life provides medical analysis on the dangers posed to women as Mifepristone will be widely available.

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11:27 PM · Mar 7, 2024

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The Bottom Line:

Today’s push for so-called “self-managed abortion” and removal of important in-person dispensing safety requirements (REMS) from the abortion pill has made more medical professionals and pharmacy staff complicit in the killing of preborn children while the abortion industry rakes in profits.