H.R. 9421: Ban Abortion by Mail Act

This bill would make it harder for certain health care providers to prescribe, dispense, or administer mifepristone and other drugs used for abortion.

What the bill would do

• It would require a REMS-certified provider to have an in-person visit with a patient before prescribing, dispensing, or administering mifepristone or any other “abortion drug.”
• If a provider knowingly does so without an in-person visit, the provider would lose their REMS-certified status for at least 2 years.
• It would also require the provider to have a medical license in the state where the patient lives. If a provider knowingly prescribes, dispenses, or administers one of these drugs to a patient in a state where the provider is not licensed, the provider would again lose REMS-certified status for at least 2 years.
• The bill would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to send Congress an annual report listing REMS-certified providers who lost certification because they violated these rules or because of improper or unsafe prescribing of mifepristone or another abortion drug.

How the bill defines the covered drugs and providers

• “Abortion drug” is defined broadly to include any drug or combination of drugs used to intentionally end a pregnancy, except when the purpose is to produce a live birth, remove a dead unborn child, or treat an ectopic pregnancy.
• “REMS-certified provider” means a health care professional who has completed the FDA’s certification program for prescribing mifepristone.
• The bill’s requirements would be enforced through the federal REMS system overseen by the FDA, under the Department of Health and Human Services.

Practical effect

In practical terms, the bill would restrict remote or mail-based prescribing of mifepristone and similar abortion drugs by tying federal certification to an in-person medical visit and to state licensure for the patient’s state. Providers who do not meet those conditions could lose their federal ability to prescribe these drugs for at least two years.

Relevant Companies

None found