Two recent Biden Administration decisions make it easier for patients to get abortion medications through the US Postal Service even in states that pass laws restricting the use of such medicines, ABC News reports.

On Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration determined that one of the medications, mifepristone, can be dispensed by local pharmacies if prescribed by a physician, a sign that the safety of the drug is high enough that it doesn’t have to be dispensed at a doctor’s office.  Because only the FDA, not state governments, can permit or bar the distribution of prescription drugs through retail outlets, restrictive state governments will not be able to bar the potential sale of such drugs.  It also allows patients to get the drug delivered to their homes instead of having to go to a retail pharmacy.

The administration followed that up with a Justice Department opinion today that the US Postal Service is allowed to deliver reproductive health medications, even in states where laws bar the use of such medications.  The decision says that because the sender cannot know if the product will be used illegally, the USPS is obligated to deliver the package; the patient could, the opinion essentially asserts, go to a state where the drug is legal before ingesting it, so the delivery is not illegal.  The decision pre-emptively asserts the government’s position that such shipments do not violate the 1873 Comstock Act, which bans the shipment of things that may be used for “obscene” purposes such as  contraceptives, substances that induce abortion, pornographic content, sex toys and any written material about these items.