Protecting Medication Abortion: Stronger CA Priority Bill AB 260 Ensures Californians Have Access to Safe Abortions, Regardless of Federal Threats to Mifepristone

Medical abortion through drugs like mifepristone has been proven to be a safe form of reproductive health care for the past 25 years. Despite this overwhelming evidence, mifepristone and other medical abortion drugs have come under fire after the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, 597 U.S. 215 (2022) upended the decades-long federal right to abortions. These attacks have been especially pronounced and swift in states which seek to restrict abortion access. Most recently, the Trump administration has threatened to restrict FDA-approval for mifepristone, despite the decades of evidence indicating that this drug is a safe medication for abortions and miscarriages.

In 2022, Californians voted to enshrine the right to an abortion in the state’s constitution. Californians recognized the role abortion plays not only in personal bodily autonomy but in personal and collective economic success. Abortion restrictions cost the U.S. an average of $173 billion per year by lowering the overall lifetime earnings of people who cannot access abortions when they need them, increasing poverty amongst individuals, and preventing people who become pregnant from staying in the workplace.

“This bill provides comprehensive protection for access to mifepristone and other abortion drugs for all Californians at a critical and urgent moment in the history of reproductive healthcare in this country.”

The Stronger California Advocates Network drives groundbreaking reforms to help Californians combat poverty and build assets and achieve workplace justice and family-friendly workplaces. Californians know that abortion access is essential healthcare and sound economic policy. Stronger CA has co-sponsored Assembly Bill 260 to preserve the intent of California voters: the bill makes clarifying changes to existing state laws around abortion, strengthens state laws to continue and expand access to medical abortion, and protects medication abortion providers and facilities.

The bill repeals several now-unconstitutional provisions of existing California laws, including:

• Imposing conditions or restrictions on abortion access for incarcerated persons and committed juveniles;
• barring minors from getting abortions without parental consent, and
• criminalizing assisting with or advertising abortions.

The bill protects  healthcare providers, pharmacists, and patients across California from risks associated with potential litigation and law enforcement from states where abortion is currently banned. It permits pharmacists to dispense mifepristone or other drugs used for medication abortion without including the name of the prescriber or the name and address of the pharmacy. At the same time, both pharmacists and patients are kept safe by requiring pharmacists who distribute medication abortion drugs to maintain a log about what they are prescribing, while ensuring that this information cannot be disclosed to an individual or entity from another state. California and federal law enforcement agencies would be required to get a valid, court-issued subpoena to inspect these pharmacist logs. AB 260 ensures that laws from other states which criminalize abortion are officially deemed against California’s public policy.

“As recent lawsuits and actions by the federal government attempt to limit states’ ability to provide medication abortion drugs, this bill ensures that Californians’ constitutional right to reproductive freedom is protected in practical, meaningful ways…”

The bill also protects health practitioners from being penalized or facing criminal charges for prescribing or administering mifepristone or other medication abortion drugs for a non-federally approved use. This means, for example, that if these drugs lose FDA approval for use in abortions but not miscarriages, Californians could still use them for abortions. AB 260 also protects licensed clinics, health facilities, and the manufacturers and transporters of medical abortion drugs from being penalized or facing criminal charges in California for assisting in the provision of abortion care. Furthermore, it ensures that medical providers who primarily operate via telehealth can prescribe abortion drugs to patients who need them.

Finally, AB 260 updates the state’s healthcare policies to ensure that insurance is not a barrier to abortion access. It protects Californians from a potential ban of mifepristone by the FDA by mandating that all state-approved health care plans (including Medi-Cal, California’s version of Medicare) do not exclude brand name or generic mifepristone regardless of its FDA approval status, unless the drug has been deemed unsafe by the state due to an imminent health or safety concern.

As a part of the Stronger California Advocacy Network, ERA uplifts their efforts to get AB 260 signed into law. This bill provides comprehensive protection for access to mifepristone and other abortion drugs for all Californians at a critical and urgent moment in the history of reproductive healthcare in this country. As recent lawsuits and actions by the federal government attempt to limit states’ ability to provide medication abortion drugs, this bill ensures that Californians’ constitutional right to reproductive freedom is protected in practical, meaningful ways that impact all patients seeking this care. AB 260 reflects California’s ongoing commitment to leading the fight to protect reproductive freedom.