- Germany's Oktoberfest opens under tight security after attacks
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- No place like home: Biden hosts 'Quad' leaders
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- New Zealand edge Australia 31-28 in Bledisloe Cup thriller
- Japan orders evacuations as heavy rains trigger floods in quake-hit area
- New Zealand pilot freed in Indonesia after 19 months in rebel captivity
- Hezbollah in disarray after Israeli air strike kills top commanders
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- Leading climate activist released from Vietnam jail
- Ethiopians struggle with bitter pill of currency reform
- Sri Lanka votes in first poll since economic collapse
- Feminist author warns of abortion disaster if Trump wins US election
- US city of Flint still reeling from water crisis, 10 years on
- Arsenal's mean defence faces acid test to shut out Man City again
- Late surge lifts Thailand's Jeeno to LPGA Queen City lead
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- Alcaraz defeated on Laver Cup debut
- Postecoglou embraces 'struggle' to make Spurs a success
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- Boeing CEO says ending strike 'a top priority'
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- Harris slams Trump for hypocrisy on abortion as US starts voting
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- No doctor necessary: US okays nasal spray flu vaccine for self-use
- Gurbaz, birthday boy Rashid lead Afghanistan to 177-run rout of South Africa
- Former delivery man Baldwin leads star names at PGA Championship
- Trump shooting: Secret Service admits complacency
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- Haiti, its suffering growing, in 'race against time': UN expert
- Ibrahim Aqil, the Hezbollah elite unit commander wanted by the US
- Chinese forward Cui signs NBA contract with Brooklyn Nets
- US Fed dissenter calls for 'measured' pace of rate cuts
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- Norway limits wild salmon fishing as stocks hit new lows
- Top Hezbollah commander killed in Israeli strike on Beirut
- Rotterdam fatal knife attacker suspected of 'terrorist motive'
- First early votes cast in knife-edge US presidential election
- Top-ranked Swiatek out of Beijing due to 'personal matters'
- Hard-right Reform UK looks to the future after vote success
- Embiid agrees to NBA contract extension with 76ers
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- Biden says 'working' to get people back to homes on Israel-Lebanon border
- Pope criticises Argentina's crackdown on protesters
- Court limits screenings of videos in France mass rape case
- Gurbaz century takes Afghanistan to 311-4 in 2nd ODI
- Central banks face 'difficult balancing act': IMF chief
US expands access to abortion pills through pharmacies
Retail pharmacies in the United States will be permitted to sell abortion pills, health officials said Tuesday, a move that could significantly expand access to the procedure after last year's landmark Supreme Court ruling that overturned federal abortion rights.
Regulatory changes announced by the Food and Drug Administration mean that mifepristone, which is the first of two drugs used to terminate a pregnancy, will be available in local drug stores in states where abortion is permitted.
A doctor's prescription will be needed to obtain the pills, which were previously only available from a few mail-order pharmacies or certified doctors and clinics.
Demand for abortion pills has risen since the conservative-dominated Supreme Court made a landmark ruling last June that overturned Roe v. Wade, a 1973 case that had guaranteed women's right to an abortion for half a century.
Abortion pills are already used in more than half of US procedures to terminate a pregnancy, experts say, and they have increasingly become a focus in the political and legal battle for abortion rights since the Supreme Court's controversial decision.
Pharmacies will need to receive certification to dispense the drug, while patients will need to complete a consent form.
The FDA's decision was welcomed by the American Civil Liberties Union.
"We are happy the FDA has increased pharmacy access to this safe and effective medication, relieving one of the agency's needless burdens on mifepristone patients," said Julia Kaye of the ACLU's Reproductive Freedom Project.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the anti-abortion organization Susan B. Anthony List slammed the decision.
"The Biden administration has once again proved that it values abortion industry profits over women's safety and unborn children's lives," Dannenfelser said in a statement.
L.Davis--AMWN