A stockpile in Massachusetts of widely-used abortion capsules has sat dormant over the year-plus since Gov. Maura Healey directed her administration to spend practically $700,000 on 15,000 doses within the face of a authorized problem to the medicine, in line with well being officers.
Healey moved final April to purchase a yr’s value of mifepristone within the occasion of a scarcity after a Texas decide suspended federal approval of the drug. Entry to the tablet has remained out there after the case shifted into the arms of the U.S. Supreme Court docket, the place justices put the Texas ruling on maintain till a last choice is handed down.
A spokesperson for Healey, Karissa Hand, mentioned the governor “took action” final yr to verify mifepristone stays out there in Massachusetts as entry to medicine abortion was threatened.
“We have preserved these doses as the case remains pending before the Supreme Court and mifepristone remains legal and accessible. We will evaluate next steps based on the court’s ruling, but no matter what, mifepristone and access to reproductive health care will remain protected in Massachusetts,” Hand mentioned in a press release.
A spokesperson for the Division of Public Health mentioned the administration plans to “take steps to distribute the stockpile” based mostly on the ultimate ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court docket and officers haven’t any plans to order extra doses. A choice is anticipated in June.
Healey turned to the College of Massachusetts Amherst to buy the capsules — which have a five-year shelf life — as a result of the establishment had the mandatory certifications in place to order mifepristone and already supplies the drug by way of its well being providers.
College leaders mentioned on the time that guaranteeing entry “to safe, effective, reproductive healthcare for the residents of Massachusetts is fully aligned with UMass Amherst’s longstanding mission to serve the commonwealth.”
UMass Amherst spokesperson Ed Blaguszewski mentioned your entire cargo of mifepristone was handed off to the Division of Public Health inside a couple of days of its arrival.
“None of it is being stored at UMass. There have been no further requests by the state for additional purchases,” Blaguszewski mentioned in a press release.
Supreme Court docket justices in March heard about 90 minutes of oral arguments in a case that appears to overturn the U.S. Meals and Drug Administration’s decades-old approval of mifepristone. A ruling for opponents of the drug may cease the supply of the medicine by mail and at main pharmacies.
Justices appeared skeptical of the case, which was initially introduced solely 5 months after the Supreme Court docket overturned Roe v. Wade, and a few appeared to suppose the decrease courts had overreached.
“I’m worried that there is a significant mismatch in this case between the claimed injury and the remedy that’s being sought and that that might or should matter for standing purposes,” Affiliate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson mentioned in March.
Taylor St. Germain, a spokesperson for Reproductivity Fairness Now, mentioned the group is “proud” of Healey’s “bold and proactive steps” to stockpile mifepristone forward of the Supreme Court docket’s ruling.
“In a post-Roe world, protected states like ours need to go on offense to protect and expand access to essential reproductive health care, and Massachusetts stands ready to get this medication into the hands of providers and patients when a decision comes down this June,” she mentioned.
Supplies from the Related Press have been used on this report.
