The abortion pill mifepristone will be available by prescription at Walgreens and CVS pharmacies starting this month, The New York Times reported.
Before this month, the pill was not available at the pharmacies amid an ongoing legal challenge before the U.S. Supreme Court. Opponents of the drug sued the Food and Drug Administration, questioning mifepristone's safety and claiming the agency rushed the drug's approval.
A lower court ruled that the drug could still be prescribed, but left restrictions for sending mail-order prescriptions.
Officials with CVS and Walgreens told The New York Times that they had received certification to provide mifepristone at in-store pharmacies in certain states, but will not be shipping prescriptions by mail.
Dobbs decision has had little impact on total number of US abortions
Although the number of monthly abortions has dropped to nearly zero in states with bans, they have risen in states that allow abortion.
Walgreens said its rollout will begin within the next week in New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, California and Illinois. CVS will reportedly begin offering the drug in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Both chains said they plan to expand to more states in the coming weeks and months.
Walgreens and CVS told The New York Times that the pill would not be available in states where abortion laws were murky.
"We continually monitor and evaluate changes in state laws and will dispense mifepristone in any state where it is or becomes legally permissible to do so," CVS spokesperson Amy Thibault told the publication.
Mifepristone is one of two medications the FDA has approved for a medicated abortion. It is a one-dose pill only approved for patients up to 10 weeks into a pregnancy.
President Joe Biden praised the chains for getting the certification to dispense the pills and encouraged more to pursue it.
"With major retail pharmacy chains newly certified to dispense medication abortion, many women will soon have the option to pick up their prescription at a local, certified pharmacy — just as they would for any other medication," he said.
Thousands of US women stockpile pills amid medication abortion threats
Researchers noted a substantial increase in demand in the last year and a half after the U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade.
