Maryland is in possession of two-and-a-half-years-worth of a widely used abortion drug that it decided to stockpile after fears that the medication would be hard to come by due to possible legal battles.
The state decided to stockpile mifepristone back in April after a federal judge in Texas temporarily stopped the use of the drug, stating the Food and Drug Administration improperly approved it 23 years ago.
Gov. Wes Moore announced that the Maryland Department of Health in conjunction with the University of Maryland Medical Center would work to procure a large quantity of the medication in case it became unavailable on the market.
“We made that decision [to store two-and-a half-years-worth of the drug] based on both how we do stockpiles in general, and also expiration dates of the medications,” Dr. Nilesh Kalyanaraman, MDH’s deputy secretary for public health services, told WYPR. “We believe that will give us enough time if the landscape changes on us to be able to provide that medication while we look for more than two- or three-year solutions.”
Maryland spent about $1.2 million dollars on the stockpile and is using state funds from the Board of Public Works to cover the cost.
