Gavin Newsom is urging women in California to build up a supply of name-brand abortion medications like mifepristone. This is to combat potential ‘politically motivated abortion restrictions’ that could be imposed by Donald Trump.
Mifepristone is used in conjunction with misoprostol as a two-step procedure to terminate a pregnancy. Currently, it is approved for use during the first 70 days, or up to 10 weeks, of pregnancy—a regulation adjustment that was implemented in 2016.
The Democrat, who is widely expected, including by Trump, to consider a presidential run in 2028, issued this warning alongside a new initiative aimed at reducing the cost of prescription medications.
It’s not the first time he’s panicked about access to abortion drugs, having mandated the state bulk up on misoprostol in 2023.
Originally, he refused to stock up on mifopristone because he believed it was ‘not in the crosshairs’ of pro-life advocates and because it has other medical uses.
The liberal governor tried to frame it as an attempt to make prescription drugs cheaper regardless of use but made it clear he wanted to protect abortion.
‘Prescription drug prices are out of control and we’re shining a light on hidden costs – while also giving CalRX more tools to respond to supply chain disruptions, market manipulation, or politically motivated abortion restrictions.’
Newsom admitted he wanted the ‘ability to protect reproductive health care options, including mifepristone and other medications under attack in other states.’
Gavin Newsom wants California women to stockpile on name-brand abortion drugs like mifepristone to safeguard against ‘politically motivated abortion restrictions’ by Donald Trump
The Democrat , whom many including Trump (pictured left) are anticipating to run for president in 2028, made the warning as part of a new proposal to make prescription drugs cheaper
In fact, a Planned Parenthood California representative said that access to abortion is under ‘imminent threat’ despite being legal in the Golden State.
‘Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California is supportive of any and all tools that protect reproductive health care, including maintaining access to medication abortion in the state,’ Shelby McMichael told the Sacramento Bee.
Fourteen states already have near-total abortion bans in place, so those states would not be greatly impacted by the decision because their laws already prevent medication abortion in nearly all cases.
More than a handful of other states had passed other restrictions since Roe fell including bans on abortion starting at six weeks to eighteen weeks that could see some access impacted if the pill mifepristone were further limited.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion rights research organization, 15 states, not including the states with near-total abortion bans, currently have additional restrictions specifically on medication abortion already in place beyond the FDA rules.
Most common among the restrictions is requiring the abortion pill be provided by a physician.
In 2016, the FDA expanded who could prescribe the abortion pill beyond doctors to include those such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants. But currently, fifteen states have laws requiring it be provided by a physician.
The FDA also changed in-person disbursing requirements in 2021 amid the coronavirus pandemic, but at least five states have laws requiring patients have an in-person visit with a physician.
Limiting access to the abortion pill would have less impact on states with near total abortion bans because abortion is already completely blocked in most cases. It could have some impact on states where there are further restrictions in the books depending on the states
Several states began stockpiling abortion pills including mifepristone and misoprostol amid concern that access to abortion pills would be limited or blocked with the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine lawsuit
Additionally, Wisconsin requires patients have the first dose in the presence of a physician, and Arizona has a ban on mailing abortion pills.
In 2023, the FDA also approved allowing pharmacies to dispense mifepristone directly to patients.
But as the case over access to abortion pills made its way to the Supreme Court, states where abortion access has been expanded warned it would impact them as well, and some states started taking precautionary action.
As these states started to face the possibility of restrictions on abortion pills being reimposed, some began stockpiling the drugs used in medication abortion last year.
Newsom, 57, was among the Democrats’ most articulate surrogates last year, even as he brushed off speculation he was seeking the White House and made the case to reelect President Biden.
‘I’d love him to run for president on the other side,’ Trump said of Newsom last week.
Newsom has clashed with a number of Trump policies but recently offered to work with the president on a $7.5 billion film production tax credit after Trump’s stunning proposal to slap a 100 percent tariff on films ‘produced in foreign lands.’
He brought up Newsom in a backhanded way, once again turning his name into an insult by calling him ‘Gavin New-scum’ while seated alongside new Canadian PM Mark Carney, at an event where Trump softened his push to make Canada the 51st state by saying it ‘takes two to tango.’
Trump, 78, started tearing into a high-speed rail project that California voters approved back in 2008, with costs ballooning to an estimated $100 billion.
As Trump described it in the Oval Office, it is a ‘little train going from San Francisco to Los Angeles that’s being run by Gavin New-scum, the governor of California.’
‘He has got that train is the worst cost overrun I’ve ever seen. It’s like totally out of control,’ Trump said.
He complained that it’s ‘hundreds of billions of dollars for this stupid project that should have never been built.’
