I can't imagine this being controversial, but here it is:
A California bill that would allow health care providers to anonymously mail abortion drugs could soon become law, marking the latest effort by a blue state to safeguard access to medication abortion.
Under the measure, which the legislature is considering this week, doctors, pharmacists and others authorized to prescribe the drugs to end a pregnancy could leave their name off the prescription label.
According to recent studies, shield laws have expanded abortion access – roughly 12,000 abortions a month are provided under the laws, the vast majority to patients living in the nearly two dozen states that ban or severely restrict the procedure. Now, as legal attacks against telehealth providers put shield laws to the test, some states have moved to strengthen the laws by allowing providers to prescribe anonymously, reducing their risk of legal or individual harassment. To date, five states — New York, Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Washington — have passed these laws, while a similar bill in Pennsylvania is currently in committee.
A California bill that would allow health care providers to anonymously mail abortion drugs could soon become law, marking the latest effort by a blue state to safeguard access to medication abortion.
Under the measure, which the legislature is considering this week, doctors, pharmacists and others authorized to prescribe the drugs to end a pregnancy could leave their name off the prescription label.
According to recent studies, shield laws have expanded abortion access – roughly 12,000 abortions a month are provided under the laws, the vast majority to patients living in the nearly two dozen states that ban or severely restrict the procedure. Now, as legal attacks against telehealth providers put shield laws to the test, some states have moved to strengthen the laws by allowing providers to prescribe anonymously, reducing their risk of legal or individual harassment. To date, five states — New York, Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Washington — have passed these laws, while a similar bill in Pennsylvania is currently in committee.
