A California bill that authorizes doctors to prescribe the mifepristone abortion drug through virtual appointments and mail the pills out of state passed the Legislature on Sept. 10 and is now on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk for final approval.
Assembly Bill 260 protects healthcare providers, pharmacists, clinics, and hospitals from penalties for prescribing or dispensing mifepristone and allows a pharmacist to dispense abortion drugs without the name of the patient, prescriber, or the name and address of the pharmacy on the label.
It also mandates insurance coverage for medication abortion, including Medi-Cal, and expands access to the pills through telehealth services. Pharmacists would have to maintain a log of prescriptions that would not be open to inspection by law enforcement without a subpoena, and would be barred from disclosing the information to people in another state….