OLYMPIA, Wash. — The state of Washington has stockpiled a three-year supply of an abortion pill in anticipation of a court ruling that could limit its availability, Gov. Jay Inslee announced Tuesday.
Inslee ordered the Department of Corrections, which has a pharmacy license, to buy 30,000 doses of the pill last month.
State lawmakers are also introducing legislation to authorize the department to sell or distribute the drug to licensed providers in Washington.
The medication, mifepristone, blocks a hormone needed for pregnancy and causes the fetus to detach from the uterine wall. Mifepristone is typically followed by a second medication, misoprostol, which causes contractions that empty the uterus.
The FDA approved mifepristone in 2000 and has reaffirmed its safety. Millions have taken the drug. The coalition of anti-abortion groups that filed the case in federal court in Texas nevertheless claim mifepristone is harmful.
In that lawsuit, the judge could find that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration improperly approved mifepristone. That could stop providers and pharmacists from being able to buy the pill, Inslee’s office said.
“This Texas lawsuit is a clear and present danger to patients and providers all across the country,” Inslee said in a statement. “Washington will not sit by idly and risk the devastating consequences of inaction. We are not afraid to take action to protect our rights.”
In Washington, 59% of 15,358 abortions in 2021 used medication, according to a multistate complaint filed in February in an Eastern Washington federal court by state Attorney General Bob Ferguson in a separate but related lawsuit.
Abortion pills can also be discreetly mailed and are sometimes used to get around state bans enacted after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last June — another reason for their significance to both sides of the abortion debate.
