Which states ban the abortion pill?

A US district judge in Texas temporarily suspended the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approval of mifepristone, medication abortion that’s prescribed in a two-drug regimen, usually to end a pregnancy in the first trimester and treat early miscarriages. The Supreme Court blocked the lower court's restriction on mifepristone while a lawsuit targeting the abortion pill proceeds.

Thirty-seven states have legal access to some form of medication abortion: Mifepristone is widely available in 22 states and can be prescribed by a clinician. The pill is restricted in some form in another 15 states and must be prescribed by a doctor/physician.

Here is an overview of where medication abortion is legal, restricted, or banned in the US.

Of the 46 states and/or cities that reported abortion data to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2020, 51% of reported abortions were early medical abortions—meaning the medical abortion occurred at a gestational age^[1] of nine weeks or earlier, according to the CDC. The CDC also says that mifepristone and misoprostol are typically used to induce a medical abortion during an early pregnancy (gestational age of nine weeks or less).

Which states are stockpiling abortion pills?

The governors of Washington, New York, California and Massachusetts announced they are stockpiling the abortion pill in anticipation of the Supreme Court overruling the FDA’s approval of mifepristone.

To learn more about health care statistics in the US, read up on where abortion is legal. Get the data directly in your inbox by subscribing to our newsletter.