NYC expands medication abortion access

New York City will expand medication abortion through its city-run sexual health clinics starting Wednesday, Mayor Eric Adams announced.

Mifepristone and misoprostol, the two drugs used to end a pregnancy, will be available in the Bronx before expanding into Queens, Manhattan, and Brooklyn by the end of the year, Adams said.

Previously, the drugs were offered at the city’s 11 municipal hospitals. NYC Health + Hospitals, the public hospital system, administered 1,114 medication abortions in 2021, up from 537 in 2019, according to a Freedom of Information request.

“We [would] have a lot more research and care options for women’s health if we weren’t so afraid of saying the word ‘vagina,’” Adams said at a city hall press conference. “No other city in the nation or the world has a public health department that is providing medication abortion. We are the first.”

The policy change comes days before Roe v. Wade would have marked its 50th anniversary. The landmark Supreme Court decision was overturned last June.

New York City and state officials have taken strides to improve abortion access over the last six months, including growing the ranks of medical professionals who can perform the procedure at city hospitals and funding efforts to help low-income people terminate their pregnancies—regardless of residency. Adams also signed legislation in August 2022 to ensure medication abortion would be available and free of cost.

The clinics will treat anyone, regardless of their immigration status or ability to pay. The expanded access to medication abortion is part of a $1.2 million effort to provide “a suite of sexual health services,” said city health department spokesperson Patrick Gallahue.