State Abortion Bans Prevent Women from Getting Medication

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State Abortion¹ Bans Prevent Women from Getting Medication

Annie England Noblin is 40 years old and lives in rural Missouri. She has never had a problem getting her medication methotrexate -- until last week.

Noblin takes methotrexate to treat a condition called rheumatoid arthritis². When taken in high amounts, the medicine can cause an abortion, or the end of a pregnancy³.

Last week, Noblin's pharmacist said she needed confirmation⁴ from her doctor that the drug was not going to be used to cause an abortion.

The state of Missouri now bans almost all abortions⁵. Methotrexate can be used to end a pregnancy. But it is also one of the leading medicines doctors prescribe to treat rheumatoid arthritis, which affects more than one million Americans.

In the end, the pharmacy⁶ filled the prescription⁷. But Noblin said she wants to change to a different, more costly⁸ medication in case the pharmacy refuses to fill her prescription in the future.

"It made me feel I couldn't be trusted with the medication prescribed to me simply because I have a uterus," Noblin said.

Missouri's restrictive anti-abortion laws went into effect following last month's decision by the U.S. Supreme⁹ Court to overturn the 1973 ruling known as Roe¹⁰ v. Wade¹¹. The case protected abortion rights throughout the United States for the last 50 years.

More than 30 states have enacted¹² legislation that restricts the ability to get medication that can be used to end a pregnancy.

Six other state laws clearly list methotrexate as an abortion-causing medication, says Steven Schultz. He is director of state legislative¹³ affairs for the patient support group Arthritis Foundation.

Today, women in Missouri and other states including Texas, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee have problems getting methotrexate. Some have faced difficulties getting the medicine from pharmacies¹⁴. Others say their doctors simply stopped prescribing the drug. That information comes from social media posts examined by Reuters reporters and the support groups Global Healthy Living Foundation and the Arthritis Foundation.

Rachel Rebouche is a law professor at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She said such laws have a "chilling effect" on doctors and pharmacists. The laws often lead care providers to not give out medications that can cause an abortion because they fear legal punishment.

Last week, the U.S. government health agency told pharmacies they are required to fill prescriptions¹⁵ under federal civil rights laws. It said denying women methotrexate could be considered discrimination.

The government's guidance shows the possible effects across the country in limiting such prescriptions. But the federal guidance may not be enough to deal with concerns about state bans.

Rebouche said, "We'll have to wait and see what the federal government is willing to do to ensure people have the information they need."

The National Community Pharmacists Association represents 19,000 independent pharmacists. It said in a statement that pharmacists are caught in the "crossfire¹⁶" between conflicting federal and state laws.

CVS and Walgreen Boots Alliance are two of the biggest U.S. pharmacy companies. Representatives for both said they tell their pharmacists to confirm methotrexate will not be used to end a pregnancy before giving it to people in states with strict abortion laws.

Commonly prescribed drug

Methotrexate is a low-cost drug. It is commonly prescribed to treat diseases like lupus. It has been approved to treat rheumatoid arthritis for more than 30 years.

It is also used to treat cancer. In much higher amounts, it can end a pregnancy, complete miscarriage¹⁷, or end a life-threatening form of pregnancy called an ectopic pregnancy.

Pharmaceutical¹⁸ market research company IQVIA found that about 500,000 methotrexate prescriptions a month were written in the past year.

Words in This Story

pharmacy – n. a store or part of a store in which drugs and medicines are prepared and sold

uterus – n. the organ in women and some female animals in which babies develop before birth

chilling – adj. very disturbing or frightening

ensure – v. to make sure that something happens

crossfire – n. shots that come from two or more places so that the bullets cross through the same area — sometimes used figuratively

miscarriage – n. a condition in which a pregnancy ends too early and does not result in the birth of a live baby

1 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

2 arthritis   

n.关节炎

参考例句：

• Rheumatoid arthritis has also been linked with the virus.风湿性关节炎也与这种病毒有关。
• He spent three months in the hospital with acute rheumatic arthritis.他患急性风湿性关节炎，在医院住了三个月。

3 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

4 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

5 abortions   

n.小产( abortion的名词复数 )；小产胎儿；（计划）等中止或夭折；败育

参考例句：

• The Venerable Master: By not having abortions, by not killing living beings. 上人：不堕胎、不杀生。 来自互联网
• Conclusion Chromosome abnormality is one of the causes of spontaneous abortions. 结论：染色体异常是导致反复自然流产的原因之一。 来自互联网

6 pharmacy   

n.药房，药剂学，制药业，配药业，一批备用药品

参考例句：

• She works at the pharmacy.她在药房工作。
• Modern pharmacy has solved the problem of sleeplessness.现代制药学已经解决了失眠问题。

7 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

8 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

9 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

10 roe   

n.鱼卵；獐鹿

参考例句：

• We will serve smoked cod's roe at the dinner.宴会上我们将上一道熏鳕鱼子。
• I'll scramble some eggs with roe?我用鱼籽炒几个鸡蛋好吗？

11 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

12 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

13 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

14 pharmacies   

药店

参考例句：

• Still, 32 percent of the pharmacies filled the prescriptions. 但仍然有32%的药剂师配发了这两张药方。 来自互联网
• Chinese herbal pharmacies, and traditional massage therapists in the Vancouver telephone book. 中药店，和传统的按摩师在温哥华的电话簿里。 来自互联网

15 prescriptions   

药( prescription的名词复数 )； 处方； 开处方； 计划

参考例句：

• The hospital of traditional Chinese medicine installed a computer to fill prescriptions. 中医医院装上了电子计算机来抓药。
• Her main job was filling the doctor's prescriptions. 她的主要工作就是给大夫开的药方配药。

16 crossfire   

n.被卷进争端

参考例句：

• They say they are caught in the crossfire between the education establishment and the government.他们称自己被卷进了教育机构与政府之间的争端。
• When two industrial giants clash,small companies can get caught in the crossfire.两大工业企业争斗之下，小公司遭受池鱼之殃。

17 miscarriage   

n.失败，未达到预期的结果；流产

参考例句：

• The miscarriage of our plans was a great blow.计划的失败给我们以巨大的打击。
• Women who smoke are more to have a miscarriage.女性吸烟者更容易流产。

18 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。