On June 24, 2022, the United States Supreme Court voted to overturn Roe V. Wade — a case that protected an individual’s right to a safe, accessible, and private abortion. Since then, many women and people with uteruses have faced major roadblocks when it comes to abortion access. In some states, surgical abortion rights remain protected under law. In others, state legislatures voted to place limits on abortions, or ban the procedure outright. Other methods, such as the abortion pill, have also been barred in several states following Roe being overturned.
On July 8, 2022, President Joe Biden signed an executive order to protect reproductive health care under federal law. While this doesn’t ensure access to surgical abortion, this order ensures access to medication abortion (AKA, the abortion pill) whether that’s through a health care provider in states where abortion is still accessible or through the mail if abortion is banned within a state. Sites like Plan C Pills help to provide “period pills” to people looking for a way to induce their period, or have a medical abortion, by mail-forwarding the medication nationwide — including those states where it’s not readily accessible.
While online resources like Plan C have been a great help when it comes to abortion access, the FDA made a serious move to ensure access to medical abortion. On Jan. 3, 2023, the FDA announced that retail pharmacies — like CVS, Rite Aid, and Walgreens — can now apply for a certification that would allow them to distribute the abortion pill.
The FDA’s decision to allow retail pharmacies to carry the abortion pill, or mifepristone, is a big one — especially for college students. Here’s what you need to know.
How Can I Get An Abortion Pill at a retail pharmacy As A college student?
Because of the FDA’s decision, the ball is in the court of retail pharmacies when it comes to the abortion pill. Before it could be sold in this way, accessing a medical abortion required several steps. First, you’d have to verify your pregnancy. Then, you would have to obtain a prescription for the pill from a doctor, nurse, clinic, or Planned Parenthood center. From there, you could get the abortion pill either from the aforementioned sources or shipped to you in the mail. But if you’re in a state where the abortion pill is banned, you would have to visit another state, or get prescribed the medication through telehealth and receive the pill in the mail.
Now, following the FDA’s decision, retail pharmacies can actually carry the pill internally. What this means, essentially, is that the pill won’t have to travel through various hoops to end up in your hands. You still have to get a prescription from a doctor, but you could pick up the pill at the pharmacy down the street.
I’m a college student. Will the abortion pill prescription show up on my parent’s insurance?
This an all-too-familiar question — and it gets dicey. The short answer? Yes. The long answer? It’s complicated.
If you’re still on your parent’s insurance and you’re over 18, accessing an abortion privately is tough, even if it’s the abortion pill. First, you have to look at your insurance plan and find out if it covers the cost of an abortion. If it does and you get the abortion, there’s a thing called the “explanation of benefits,” or EOB, that gets sent to the policyholder — AKA, your parent or guardian. However, certain states have privacy protections on EOBs — meaning, you can communicate privately with your provider to get certain personal paperwork mailed to you, not the policyholder. Before making any moves, do some research into your state’s policies when it comes to reproductive privacy.
Since the FDA’s decision is a relatively new one, there are bound to be new developments when it comes to the abortion pill. Be sure to remain literate on reproductive health care, and follow updates about the future of abortion access.