Washington lawmakers briefed on Inslee’s plan to distribute abortion pill

OLYMPIA — The Department of Corrections is prepared to implement a proposed law that would allow it to distribute abortion pills, DOC Secretary Cheryl Strange told lawmakers Monday.

Lawmakers heard public testimony and information about the cost of Gov. Jay Inslee’s plan to maintain a supply of a commonly used abortion pill amid uncertainty over its future availability and approval by federal regulators.

The testimony comes in the wake of contradictory federal court rulings concerning the drug, mifepristone.

On Friday, a federal judge in Eastern Washington barred the U.S. Food and Drug Administration from pulling mifepristone off the market. Earlier that day, a federal judge in Texas, in a separate case, ordered a hold on approval of the drug.

The governor announced last Tuesday that he asked the DOC, which has a pharmacy license, to buy 30,000 doses of the drug in anticipation of the Texas decision.

That purchase was made late last month for about $1.28 million, Inslee said. Lawmakers have introduced a bill that would require the department to set up a program to deliver, dispense and distribute abortion medications.

Mifepristone is one of two common abortion pills usually taken to end pregnancies in what’s known as a medication abortion. Nearly 60% of abortions in Washington in 2021 used mifepristone, according to court documents in the Washington lawsuit against the FDA. Mifepristone was first approved in 2000 to end pregnancies.

The bill, Senate Bill 5768, also requires the department to sell the pill at cost ($42.50 per dose), plus charge a $5 fee per dose to offset the cost of storing and delivering the drug. It would also exempt the department from a wholesaler’s license.

The department ships about 480,000 prescriptions per year from its central pharmacy, Strange told lawmakers Monday.

“We have a large centralized pharmacy,” Strange said. “We have infrastructure for that.” She noted that the pharmacy is within a secure perimeter.

The total estimated cost of the legislation in the upcoming two-year budget cycle is $1.6 million, according to a legislative analysis. The cost includes four full-time employees: a pharmacy officer, a project manager, a pharmacy technician and a fiscal analyst.

The department is requesting $200,000 per year for enhanced security for the duration of the program.

Micah Matthews, deputy executive and legislative director of the Washington Medical Commission, told lawmakers that “no provision of Washington state law or federal law” prohibits the drug from being sold, delivered, possessed or prescribed if FDA approval for the drug is withdrawn or invalidated.

While state officials are taking steps to create a supply of mifepristone, prescribers could still order the drug even if the FDA withdraws or invalidates approval.

“To make it plain, nothing has changed for Washington prescribers,” Matthews said. “The drug formulation, the reason for its use and the legality of prescribing all remain the same as it was last Monday.”

He also said that mifepristone has a shelf life of five years.

Between DOC and UW Medicine, which has purchased 10,000 doses, Washington has enough supply for four years, Inslee said last week.

Lawmakers on the committee also heard testimony from members of the public about the proposal. While several supporters of abortion rights testified in favor of the legislation, most providing testimony opposed abortion.