Protecting Access to Medication Abortion Act of 2023
Latest action · Feb 2, 2023 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedFeb 2, 2023
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Protecting Access to Medication Abortion Act of 2023
This bill requires the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ensure that patients may receive mifepristone through prescriptions issued via telehealth and filled by mail. The FDA has approved mifepristone for medication abortions (i.e., a procedure in which prescription drugs are used to terminate a pregnancy).
(Mifepristone is subject to a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy, which imposes various safety-related requirements. During the COVID-19 public health emergency, the FDA suspended enforcement of a requirement that the drug must be dispensed in person, a requirement in the strategy at the time. In January 2023, the FDA updated the strategy to remove the in-person dispensing requirement.)
Under this bill, the FDA must ensure that the strategy for mifepristone (1) does not have an in-person dispensing requirement, (2) allows patients to access prescriptions for mifepristone via telehealth, and (3) authorizes all pharmacies certified to dispense mifepristone to patients to do so via mail.
Cosponsors 9
Members who signed on, in the order they did. All signed on Feb 2, 2023.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-CA | Alex Padilla | Original | Feb 2, 2023 |
| I-ME | Angus S. King Jr. | Original | Feb 2, 2023 |
| D-HI | Brian Schatz | Original | Feb 2, 2023 |
| D-NJ | Cory A. Booker | Original | Feb 2, 2023 |
| D-MI | Debbie Stabenow | Original | Feb 2, 2023 |
| D-OR | Jeff Merkley | Original | Feb 2, 2023 |
| D-CO | John W. Hickenlooper | Original | Feb 2, 2023 |
| D-NY | Kirsten E. Gillibrand | Original | Feb 2, 2023 |
| D-VA | Tim Kaine | Original | Feb 2, 2023 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| Senate | Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee | Referred Feb 2, 2023 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Feb 2, 2023Introduced in Senate
- Feb 2, 2023Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 767 | Protecting Access to Medication Abortion Act of 2023 | Identical bill | Feb 10, 2023 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- A bill to preserve access to abortion medications.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- Protecting Access to Medication Abortion Act of 2023
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Health.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Feb 2, 2023Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
