Port Angeles pharmacy first in state to announce it will start dispensing abortion pill

PORT ANGELES, Wash. — A Port Angeles pharmacy became the first in Washington state to publicly announce it will start dispensing mifepristone, the over-the-counter abortion pill.

Jim’s Pharmacy fulfilled the requirements to be able to dispense the drug. Other chains are still in the process of becoming certified.

Before, people wanting the drug had to go to a doctor or approved provider to get it. In January, the Biden administration announced that pharmacies could dispense the pills, according to Politico.

In April, Gov. Jay Inslee announced that 30,000 doses of the drug — or a three-year supply — had been purchased and arrived at the end of March.

The move was made in case the FDA was ordered to reverse its approval of mifepristone, which would effectively end the ability of healthcare providers or pharmacists across the nation to buy the drug.

A Texas-based judge ruled to revoke the drug’s approval, but a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments over the decision.

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The judges overturned part of the lower court ruling that would have revoked the FDA’s approval of mifepristone. But it left intact part of the ruling that would end the availability of the drug by mail, allow it to be used through only the seventh week of pregnancy rather than the 10th, and require that it be administered in the presence of a physician.

President Joe Biden’s administration appealed the ruling, taking the battle to keep the pill available without restrictions on how it is delivered and distributed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In the meantime, the drug remains available.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.