Pa. launches abortion access website in wake of Texas ruling against abortion medication

After a federal judge’s ruling in Texas last week halted the approval of a drug used in medication abortions, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro launched a website informing state residents about their rights to accessing to abortion services.

Shapiro said Monday that Pennsylvanians’ reproductive rights have not changed because of the Texas federal judge’s ruling, nor have they been affected by last year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision overruling Roe v. Wade.

Shapiro, a Democrat, said the state’s new website — www.pa.gov/freedomtochoose — will help improve access to reproductive health care through information about medication abortions as well as in-clinic procedure abortions, an interactive map to find providers and connections to financial services for those that need help paying.

“As your governor, I believe decisions on reproductive care are to be made between women and their doctors, not extremist politicians or radical court rulings,” said Shapiro.

Last Friday, Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk stopped the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, one of two drugs used for its medication abortion regimen. Kacsmaryk is a longtime opponent of abortion rights.

Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senators Bob Casey and John Fetterman, both Democrats, slammed the ruling. Mifepristone has been available for more than 20 years and Shapiro reminded Pennsylvanians that it still remains legal in the state, despite the ruling.

Shapiro said a dueling opinion from a federal judge in Washington state that rules that mifepristone is safe and effective preserved access to the drug in Pennsylvania – as well as 16 other states and Washington, D.C. – because the state is party to the Washington state ruling.

The Texas decision was stayed a week to allow the federal government an opportunity to appeal. On Monday, the federal Justice Department criticized the Texas ruling and asked a federal appeals court to put the decision on hold.

Medication abortions often use a two-step process involving mifepristone followed by misoprostol. Shapiro said mifepristone is used in 50% of abortions and can be acquired at abortion clinics, pharmacies or by mail.

The Shapiro administration also reiterated its continuation of an executive order from former Gov. Tom Wolf that says non-Pennsylvania residents seeking abortion care in Pennsylvania can do so without fear of being arrested or detained at the request of another state.