House members to urge FDA to remove in-person requirement for abortion medication

House Democrats have introduced a resolution that aims to encourage the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reconsider a ban on mandating that accessing abortion medication be in person in the future.

The FDA in April ended restrictions on mailing abortion pills during the pandemic, after the former Trump administration moved to keep the decades-old requirement for in-person pickup of the drug mifepristone amid the public health emergency surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. It did not, however, address whether the practice would stay in place after the pandemic.

Sponsors of the resolution, lead by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), said in a statement Thursday that lifting in-person restrictions for the drug mifepristone, one of two pills administered in early pregnancy abortion, will not lessen its safety.