ACLU Supporter –

Abortion is essential, time-sensitive health care, and no one should have to risk needless exposure to a deadly virus to access it. Yet right now, thousands in our country are being forced to do exactly that – even as the U.S. approaches half a million COVID-19 deaths.

That's why we're urging the Biden administration to take action in its first 100 days to ensure safe access to medication abortion for all. Join us by signing our petition right now.

Let's be clear on what's happening: This summer, our lawsuit against the FDA successfully halted an in-person requirement that forced patients to risk needless exposure to COVID-19 as a condition of obtaining mifepristone – a safe and effective medication used to end early pregnancies and treat early miscarriages.

But before he left office, Trump took the case to the Supreme Court. And three weeks ago, the Court reinstated this harmful policy – one that needlessly endangers patients and clinicians, causing particular harm to people of color and people with low incomes due to centuries of structural racism and inequities.

The decision was cruel and indefensible, but also fixable. Sign our petition telling the Biden administration to reverse this dangerous course through two urgent actions:

1. Immediately suspend the in-person requirement on mifepristone for the duration of the pandemic – consistent with the government's approach to other medications.
2. Initiate a comprehensive FDA review of all current restrictions on mifepristone. The in-person requirement is only one of many outdated, medically-unnecessary restrictions on this safe medication. This package of restrictions is long overdue for a review.

ACLU Supporter, it's mind-boggling that one of the Trump administration's top priorities on its way out the door was to endanger even more people during this pandemic – and it's chilling that the Supreme Court allowed it.

There's simply no medical justification for this restriction. The FDA already allows mifepristone patients to complete all evaluation and counseling through telemedicine and to swallow the pill at home. Yet it insists on an in-person pill pick-up – even during a pandemic. It's no wonder the medical community uniformly opposes this senseless restriction.

This is government-mandated harm and it cannot continue. The Biden-Harris administration must right this wrong immediately: Sign our petition now.

Thank you,

Georgeanne Usova
Pronouns: She, her, hers
Senior Legislative Counsel, ACLU

P.S. President Biden has committed to supporting reproductive freedom and evidence-based policies. And while his most recent presidential memorandums to reverse Trump-era policies on abortion are a start, there's so much more work to do. Let's make it happen: Sign our petition and tell Biden to ensure safe access to medication abortion now.