Pennsylvania Launches New Website Sharing Resources for Reproductive Care

In the wake of a Texas court ruling concerning medication abortions, Gov. Josh Shapiro launched a new website providing facts and information about legal abortions in the commonwealth.

Gov. Josh Shapiro wants everyone to know that abortion is still legal in Pennsylvania, and has launched a website to do just that.

In response to the Texas court decision seeking to restrict access to medication abortions nationwide, the Shapiro administration has set up a new website for reproductive health care resources that provides facts and information about abortion services in the state.

“Your rights and freedoms here in Pennsylvania have not changed — you can get a safe, legal medication abortion using mifepristone in our commonwealth,” Shapiro said in a statement. “I believe decisions on reproductive care are to be made between women and their doctors, not extremist politicians or radical court rulings.

The website launched just days after a judge in Texas reversed the Federal Drug Administration’s 2000 approval of medication abortions. The two-step medication abortion — consisting of mifepristone followed by misoprostol — can be obtained at abortion clinics, pharmacies, or by mail. The Texas judge in Friday’s ruling, a Trump appointee, stayed his decision for seven days to give the federal government time to appeal.

In a dueling opinion late Friday, a federal judge in Washington state also ruled in a different case — which Pennsylvania is a party to — that mifepristone is safe and effective, and ordered the FDA to preserve “the status quo” and retain access to the drug in the 17 states (along with  Washington D.C.) behind the lawsuit.

On the new website, there is information about medication abortions as well as in-clinic procedure abortions. There is also an interactive map with a “Find a Provider” tool and resources on financial support under “How to Pay.”

“This new website will help those seeking critical reproductive healthcare services, no matter what part of the commonwealth they live in or whether they are traveling from a state that has restricted abortion access,” Shapiro said. “My administration is exploring every possible action we can take to keep medication abortion accessible, expand access to reproductive care, and continue safeguarding the freedom to choose.”
In February, Shapiro joined a Reproductive Freedom Alliance with 20 other governors to safeguard abortion access, protect abortion providers, and affirm abortion rights. He also reinforced former-Governor Tom Wolf’s executive order ensuring that non-Pennsylvania residents seeking abortion care in Pennsylvania can do so without fear of being arrested or detained at the request of another state.