Alaskans will still have access to medical abortions despite federal judge’s ruling, Planned Parenthood says

Alaska’s main abortion provider said Friday that access to medical abortion will remain in the state, even after a federal judge blocked the decades-old federal approval of mifepristone, one of two medications most commonly used to end a pregnancy.

“Patients can still come to us for safe, effective medication abortion,” Planned Parenthood Great Northwest’s CEO Rebecca Gibron said in a prepared statement Friday evening. “We are prepared to continue providing care no matter the final ruling in this case.”

While until now most medical abortions in Alaska have used a combination of mifepristone and misoprostol, Gibron said in the statement that Planned Parenthood health centers in Alaska are prepared to switch to providing misoprostol-only medication abortions “if eventually required.”

Misoprostol-only abortions have a slightly lower rate of effectiveness in ending pregnancies — they are between 85% and 95% effective, compared to over 95% when both drugs are used — but are practiced widely in countries where mifepristone is illegal or unavailable.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk in Texas handed down a decision that will go into effect in seven days unless challenged, and would trigger a nationwide ban on mifepristone, even in Alaska, where abortion is a legal and protected by the state’s constitution.

Soon after that ruling was announced, a conflicting decision was issued by U.S. District Judge Thomas Rice in Washington state. Rice ordered the Food and Drug Administration to retain access to the medication in 17 states — which does not include Alaska — that are enmeshed in a separate lawsuit involving the drug.

The FDA said in a statement Friday evening that the agency “stands behind its determination that mifepristone is safe and effective under its approved conditions of use for medical termination of early pregnancy,” and indicated it would appeal the ruling.

Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor was one of 22 Republican state attorneys general who filed a February brief supporting the anti-abortion group’s challenge to FDA approval of mifepristone in the federal lawsuit in Texas.

[Abortion providers in the U.S. grapple with conflicting rulings on a key abortion pill]

Legal scholars say it appears inevitable that the issue will move to the U.S. Supreme Court, especially after the conflicting rulings.

In the meantime, amid the legal uncertainty around mifepristone created by the two rulings, Gibron said Friday that misoprostol-only medication abortions are “a safe and effective alternative to the combination of mifepristone and misoprostol.”

Rose O’Hara-Jolley, director with Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates of Alaska, said Saturday in an email that Planned Parenthood health centers in Anchorage, Juneau and Fairbanks “are ready to provide care, and our patient navigators are available to answer patient questions about misoprostol-only medication abortion and how this case may affect them.”

Since its FDA approval in 2000, mifepristone has been used by millions of people — including about a third of all abortions in Alaska — with few complications, medical groups have recently noted.

The latest legal challenges reflect the aftermath of a landmark Supreme Court decision last summer that stripped away the constitutional right to an abortion in the U.S., giving individual states the authority to enact their own laws.

Abortion access developments in Alaska

In Alaska, abortion services are legal and protected under a privacy clause in the state constitution and several Alaska Supreme Court rulings.

But that could change if the constitution changes — something abortion opponents in the state have sought, either through an amendment or a constitutional convention. In November 2022, Alaska voters resoundingly rejected the prospect of calling a constitutional convention.

[Abortion access in Alaska: What current regulations are, how many are performed and who the average patient is]

Earlier this year, the FDA updated its regulations to allow mifepristone to be dispensed at chain and local pharmacies and through the mail. Previously, the FDA had allowed mifepristone to be dispensed only through certain clinics or medical providers’ offices, or through a few select mail-order pharmacies.

Advocates said that the regulatory shift had the potential to expand abortion access across the state, especially in rural communities.

In March, Attorney General Taylor signed on to a letter with other Republican state attorneys general that cited a 19th-century law in urging Walgreens not to dispense mifepristone in their states, and the drug store giant acquiesced. Similar letters signed by Taylor were also sent to other chain pharmacies.