CNN Story highlights PLI’s Playbook

Posted on April 1, 2016

From CNN’s March 31 story The abortion laws you don’t hear about:

Part of what has driven the proliferation of anti-abortion legislation is a playbook put out by Americans United for Life. “Defending Life,” first published in 2006, includes model legislation that state lawmakers cut, paste and use…

To answer this push, the Public Leadership Institute recently released its own compilation of prototype bills: “A Playbook for Abortion Rights,” a guide for policymakers on state and local levels.

Aimee Arrambide is a co-editor of this resource. A lawyer by training, the Austin, Texas- based mother of two is a reproductive rights policy specialist and a self-professed policy wonk. She shares this playbook with pride; it was a labor of love that she and her colleagues saw as long overdue. “They’re out-introducing our side, which is why we created the playbook,” she says. “We wanted to make it easier for legislators to introduce these bills.”

Food and Drug Administration Approve Updated Label for Mifepristone

On March 30, 2016 the Food and Drug Administration announced an updated label for Mifepristone, medication abortion, that is more consistent with evidence-based usage that clinicians have been using for years. More information on the label regimen can be found at www.earlyoptionpill.com

According to the National Abortion Federation the new labeling:

  • Increases the gestational age limit for medical abortion eligibility (70 days from 49 days);
  • Allows for a lower dose of mifepristone (200 mg from 600 mg);
  • Changes the misoprostol dose and route of administration (800µg buccal from 400µg oral);
  • Offers more flexibility for advanced practice clinicians as it expands provider eligibility to include all prescribers who are authorized to provide medical abortion care; and
  • No longer requires follow-up to be provided using an in-person clinic visit.

This labeling has the potential to change the landscape of medication abortion policies in the states.

Currently 3 states, Texas, North Dakota, and Ohio require that mifepristone is to be provided in accordance with prior to yesterday, the outdated FDA protocol. With the new label, these laws should require that the pill is to be provided in accordance with the new label, which is consistent with the evidence-based protocol preferred my medical professionals. Three states, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Arizona have similar laws that have been enjoined or blocked in the courts.

According to the Guttmacher Institute 37 states have laws that require licensed physicians to perform medication abortion. The new FDA labeling for Mifepristone expands provider eligibility which could include Advanced Practice Clinicians. See the model legislation, Access to Medication Abortion Act from the Public Leadership Institute’s Playbook for Abortion Rights. 

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