{"id":289025,"date":"2023-04-13T06:40:20","date_gmt":"2023-04-13T11:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=289025"},"modified":"2023-04-13T11:38:33","modified_gmt":"2023-04-13T16:38:33","slug":"blue-states-bulk-purchases-abortion-drugs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/blue-states-bulk-purchases-abortion-drugs\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue states making bulk purchases of abortion drugs as court decisions loom"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Many Democratic administrations are purchasing abortion drugs in bulk as the abortion pill’s legality faces an ongoing challenge in federal court.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Washington state had already <\/span>announced<\/span><\/a> earlier this month that it was planning to stockpile 30,000 doses of mifepristone, the first pill in the regimen, as an \u201cinsurance policy.\u201d When a Texas judge upended mifepristone\u2019s approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Massachusetts followed suit, announcing that it would purchase 15,000 doses of the drug.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

New York and California to promote failure-prone misoprostol-only abortions<\/h3>\n

Governors in New York and California responded by saying they are purchasing thousands of doses of misoprostol<\/strong> \u2013 the regimen\u2019s second pill, which causes the uterus to contract and expel the preborn human.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) made the announcement at a press conference for Planned Parenthood of Greater New York on Tuesday. \u201cOnce again, states have become the battleground on these fights and the latest steps to tear down these rights have only strengthened our resolve, so I’m proud to announce that New York State will create a stockpile of Misoprostol, another form of medication abortion,\u201d Hochul said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Her office said on Tuesday that the state\u2019s health department would \u201cimmediately\u201d start purchasing misoprostol \u201cin order to stockpile 150,000 doses, a five-year supply, in order to meet anticipated needs.\u201d California, meanwhile, has already <\/span>purchased 250,000 misoprostol pills<\/span><\/a> with the state negotiating the ability to purchase up to 2 million through CalRx, the state\u2019s prescription drug service. And while Michigan and Illinois haven\u2019t announced bulk purchases, their governors have <\/span>both<\/span><\/a> made<\/span><\/a> efforts to shore up access through insurers and health care providers.<\/span><\/p>\n

States spend millions to ensure that vulnerable humans are killed<\/h3>\n

Mifepristone is in somewhat of a legal limbo as the Biden administration has appealed the Texas decision and another judge in Washington issued a contradictory ruling \u2013 making a U.S. Supreme Court intervention more likely. The recently announced purchases are part of a broader attempt by blue state governors to secure the end of preborn children\u2019s lives. <\/span><\/p>\n

As Newsom\u2019s office noted, he launched the \u201cReproductive Freedom Alliance\u201d with 21 governors working to expand abortion access in the face of pro-life challenges brought after the Supreme Court\u2019s decision in <\/span>Dobbs<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

California, which has a contract with ANI Pharmaceuticals, has <\/span>reportedly<\/span><\/a> shared details of its plans to help other states who want to take advantage of the same deal, according to Politico. \u201cWe wanted to be very mindful about not creating any kind of run on the market or uncertainty in other states,\u201d Deputy Legal Affairs Secretary Julia Spiegel reportedly said.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Monday, the California Department of Managed Healthcare <\/span>told<\/span><\/a> plan providers that if the Texas decision takes effect, they will be required to cover mifepristone until April 14 and misoprostol-only abortions if mifepristone becomes unavailable.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Like Washington state, California has told pharmacies and health care providers it would help them access their stockpiles. Washington is doing this through the Department of Corrections, whose head reportedly told state legislators on Monday that it had a \u201clarge centralized pharmacy\u201d for distributing prescriptions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Legislators are considering a bill that would require the department to sell the bill at $42.50 per dose but the total cost for the upcoming budget cycle is $1.6 million (including the cost of four full-time employees). According to the <\/span>Seattle Times<\/span><\/a>, the pharmacy is already secure but the department is requesting $200,000 per year for additional security in relation to this program.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The costs are relatively high in other states as well. Massachusetts has devoted $1 million \u201cto support providers contracted with Department of Public Health with paying for these doses,\u201d according to its <\/span>announcement<\/span><\/a>. California, which has already <\/span>devoted<\/span><\/a> $200 million for abortion-related costs, is paying $100,000 for its first 250,000 doses of misoprostol. Its contract includes an option for purchasing more at 43 cents per pill, according to Politico.<\/span><\/p>\n