HHS INVESTIGATES PHARMACIES FOR MEDICATION REFUSALS IN STATES WITH ABORTION BANS — HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra announced over the weekend that the agency’s Office for Civil Rights has opened investigations into CVS, Walgreens and other pharmacies that have implemented new restrictions on filling prescriptions in states that have outlawed abortion, Alice reports. The announcement comes about three weeks after POLITICO reported that patients across the country are having difficulty obtaining medication for conditions that include lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, acne and miscarriage because of pharmacies’ fears that the same drugs could be used to terminate a pregnancy. “HHS has received complaints about chain pharmacies across the U.S. for not complying with their federal obligations to fill prescriptions,” Becerra said . In a statement, Walgreens said the company has “taken steps to comply with applicable laws." “Our pharmacists will continue to work closely with prescribers as necessary to fill lawful, clinically appropriate prescriptions,“ Fraser Engerman, Walgreens’ senior director of external relations, said in an emailed statement to POLITICO. “Our top priority is ensuring our patients have access to the medications they need from pharmacists they know and trust. We will cooperate with HHS and any other government agency seeking more information about our policies to dispense medications.” CVS didn’t immediately respond to questions about the investigations. FIRST IN PULSE — Reps. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) and Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) will introduce a resolution today urging Congress to protect access to reproductive health care by reaffirming the FDA’s authority to preempt state law and ensure access to reproductive health care products. The resolution reaffirms the FDA’s preemptive authority over state laws that seek to regulate approved drugs and biologics, as established in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the Public Health Service Act. Co-sponsored by 28 other House members, the resolution is endorsed by Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the National Women’s Law Center, the Center for Reproductive Rights, and other national organizations. ALL EYES ON MICHIGAN — The country’s highest-stakes battle over abortion rights is unfolding in Michigan, where polls indicate voters are likely to add the explicit right to the procedure in their state constitution, Alice reports . Abortion-related initiatives are also on the ballot in California, Kentucky, Montana and Vermont, but the outcome in Michigan will have the starkest impact — determining whether the state’s 1931 anti-abortion law remains on the books. The scene: In the final sprint to Election Day, both sides are pouring money into TV ads, mailers, and phone banking plus recruiting staff and thousands of volunteers to knock on doors across the state. The campaigns pitch their message in churches, on college campuses, at local chambers of commerce and in labor union halls, with each side painting a bleak picture of what could happen in the state if they lose. The stakes: If it passes, the state would become the first to overturn an anti-abortion law since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June and bolster abortion rights advocates’ conviction that ballot initiatives are their most viable path to restoring access in Republican-controlled states. Coming after August’s decisive victory for the abortion-rights side in Kansas, a vote to overturn the law would likely fuel efforts to put the issue on ballots in several more states in 2023 and 2024. If the law isn’t overturned, the outcome would support anti-abortion advocates’ arguments that Kansas was a fluke and Republican efforts to paint Democrats as extremists who want no restrictions on abortion are an effective campaign tactic.
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