Many women unsure about availability of medication abortion, emergency contraception in their state

Nearly half of U.S. adults are unsure if medication abortion is legal in their state, and many also are not certain about the legality of emergency contraceptive pills, the latest KFF Health Tracking Poll finds.

Early this year, the FDA approved a protocol to allow manufacturer-certified pharmacies to dispense the medication abortion drug mifepristone directly to patients with a prescription. Previously, the pills could be dispensed only by a certified health care provider and were not available through a retail pharmacy. However, three-quarters of adults surveyed have not heard anything in the news about the decision, including nearly 8 in 10 women under age 50.

• In the 13 states with full abortion bans, including for medication abortion, most adults either wrongly believe that medical abortion is legal in their state (13%) or are unsure about whether it is legal (47%). Four in 10 adults living in states with full abortion bans are aware that medication abortion is illegal in their state.
• In states where abortion is legal, fewer than half are aware that medication abortion is legal there. A similar number are unsure whether medication abortion is legal in their state, while 1 in 10 incorrectly believe medication abortion is not legal in their state.

More than 9 in 10 U.S. adults have heard of the morning-after pill (or Plan B), and 62% who have heard of it are aware that the pills are not the same as the abortion pill. Nonetheless, nearly three-fourths, including two-thirds of women of childbearing age, incorrectly believe that emergency contraceptive pills can end a pregnancy in its early stages.

Emergency contraceptives such as Plan B are legal in all 50 states. However, a third of adults say they are unsure if emergency contraceptive pills or “Plan B” are legal in their state, and 5% of adults incorrectly believe emergency contraceptive pills are illegal in their state. Large shares of women, especially those under the age of 50, are among the groups most likely to be aware that emergency contraceptive pills are legal in their state but even among this group, about a quarter either are unsure about the legality of Plan B or incorrectly believe they are illegal.

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Confusion is more widespread in states where abortions currently are banned, with more than half of people living in those states unaware that Plan B is still legal.