The ACLU contends the Food and Drug Administration should expand access to the pill, marketed as Mifeprex, and make it available via prescription at pharmacies. Restrictions on the pill have been in place since the drug was approved almost two decades ago.
Representatives from the ACLU said the limitations are not grounded in science and essentially amount to “abortion stigma made law.” The suit was filed on behalf a physician, Graham Chelius, and three healthcare associations. Chelius said he works on the Hawaiian island of Kauai and, due to objections by associates at his hospital, there are no abortion providers on the island.