Various House Democrats have been pushing very strongly for Xavier Becerra, the Health and Human Services Secretary, to increase their access to all abortion-inducing drugs.
This past Tuesday, a group of 12 Democratic congresswomen hailing from the House Oversight and Reform Committee issued a letter targeting the HHS Secretary in attempts to force him to push a newly formed Reproductive Health Care Access Task Force to action in regards to more access to abortion-inducing drugs.
The administration of Old Uncle Joe should “take immediate action to protect and expand access to medication abortion care in accordance with the recent elimination of the medically unnecessary in-person dispensing requirement for the medication abortion drug mifepristone,” stated the letter, which was signed by various female congresswomen such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Cori Bush of Missouri, and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts.
This move comes in the wake of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) removing restrictions that would require that mifepristone, the known abortion pill, be given in person as of last year. Women may now be given the dose of the drug via mail.
The move came under fire from most pro-life legislators and activists.
“Every life is sacred: the lives of mothers and the lives of the unborn,” stated the chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, at the time. “Not only does this decision further the tragic taking of unborn lives but it does little to care for the well-being of women in need.”
“Far from the accompaniment that women in crisis pregnancies deserve, this decision would leave women alone in the midst of trauma, often without any medical attention or follow up care,” he stated.
House Democrats are now trying to strongarm Becerra into making these abortion pills even cheaper and far more accessible.
“Now that the in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone has been eliminated, the federal government must continue to use every tool at its disposal to ensure that medication abortion is accessible, affordable, and convenient for patients who seek it,” stated the letter on Tuesday. “including by facilitating the dispensing and safe provision of care via clinics, mail-order pharmacies, retail pharmacies, the mail and other forms of delivery, as well as telehealth.”
These lawmakers asked to talk about this “urgent work” with representatives of the Reproductive Health Care Access Task Force, as stated by the letter, making the claim that allowing easier and more widespread access to these abortion drugs would end up helping remove various financial burdens for these women.
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