# Got rheumatoid arthritis? No pills for you! You might use them for an abortion! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 5, 2022, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-rheumatoid-arthritis-no-pills-for-you-you-might-use-them-for-an-abortion/972767 "2022-10-05T15:44:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-rheumatoid-arthritis-no-pills-for-you-you-might-use-them-for-an-abortion/972767/1 "2022-10-05T15:44:34Z")
A teenager in Arizona was denied a refill on her prescription for her rheumatoid arthritis. Might use it for an abortion, doncha know. > **[14-year-old’s arthritis meds denied after Ariz. abortion ban, doctor says](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/10/05/abortion-arizona-arthritis-prescription-refill/)** > > Although the girl has been taking methotrexate for years, a pharmacy wouldn’t fill her prescription because the drug can also be used to end pregnancies. Eventually got it from another pharmacy. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-rheumatoid-arthritis-no-pills-for-you-you-might-use-them-for-an-abortion/972767/2 "2022-10-05T18:58:58Z")
I don’t subscribe to the Post. An individual pharmacist refused to fill the prescription? Is that in Arizona law? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-rheumatoid-arthritis-no-pills-for-you-you-might-use-them-for-an-abortion/972767/3 "2022-10-05T19:04:44Z")
If the pharmacist was afraid he might be prosecuted under a draconian abortion law, i can understand it. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-rheumatoid-arthritis-no-pills-for-you-you-might-use-them-for-an-abortion/972767/4 "2022-10-05T19:13:24Z")
Ah, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-rheumatoid-arthritis-no-pills-for-you-you-might-use-them-for-an-abortion/972767/5 "2022-10-05T22:59:53Z")
The pharmacist is a moron. Methotrexate is NOT routinely used in any kind of abortion. It CAN be used to resolve an ectopic pregnancy. Which even the most draconian “you had sex, so now you gotta DIE” laws at least pay lip service to permitting. I popped in thinking it might be about Arthrotec - which is a high-end NSAID (diclofenac) combined with misoprostol… which, as it happens, IS used as part of the “abortion pill” regimen. It’s included in the Arthrotec to protect the stomach from the harsh NSAID effects. I used it for a while, about a dozen years ago. Worked beautifully though it gave me gas from hell. The package had some pretty stern warnings about fetal harm if taken during pregnancy. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-rheumatoid-arthritis-no-pills-for-you-you-might-use-them-for-an-abortion/972767/6 "2022-10-05T23:06:10Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > The pharmacist is a moron. I would disagree. When the government is enforcing a moronic law, avoiding being charged under that law is not moronic. Option A: “I don’t fill the prescription and take the public flak.” Option B: “I fill the prescription and an anti-abortion DA charges me with a criminal offence that carries a minimum sentence of two years.” Which option is moronic? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-rheumatoid-arthritis-no-pills-for-you-you-might-use-them-for-an-abortion/972767/7 "2022-10-05T23:08:04Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I don’t subscribe to the Post. Same story from another news outlet: > **[14 year old girl denied medication because of new abortion law speaks out](https://www.kold.com/2022/10/04/14-year-old-girl-denied-medication-because-new-abortion-law-speaks-out/)** > > After a 14 year old girl was denied her medication because of the state’s new abortion law which prohibits abortions except to save the life of the mother, her doctor says some older women in their 30′s have also been denied until they proved they... ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-rheumatoid-arthritis-no-pills-for-you-you-might-use-them-for-an-abortion/972767/8 "2022-10-05T23:40:29Z")
As a retired pharmacist, I absolutely loathe these stories, and I would have put this thread in the Pit if I had been the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-rheumatoid-arthritis-no-pills-for-you-you-might-use-them-for-an-abortion/972767/9 "2022-10-06T00:05:00Z")
A LOT of medications out there pose the risk of fetal harm. Do pharmacies require every female of childbearing age to provide documentation that a baby will not be harmed? as I said, methotrexate is NOT routinely used for abortions. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-rheumatoid-arthritis-no-pills-for-you-you-might-use-them-for-an-abortion/972767/10 "2022-10-06T00:14:36Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > It CAN be used to resolve an ectopic pregnancy. Which even the most draconian “you had sex, so now you gotta DIE” laws at least pay lip service to permitting. Isn’t there one state that now bans all abortions, even ectopic? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-rheumatoid-arthritis-no-pills-for-you-you-might-use-them-for-an-abortion/972767/11 "2022-10-06T01:59:51Z")
Thalidomide, isotretinoin (formerly branded as Accutane) and several other drugs require that the patient, doctor, and pharmacy must be registered and a negative pregnancy test confirmed by the doctor before the drug can be dispensed. Men also have to register, because these drugs are hazardous for them in their own ways ---
**Author:** ![Kedikat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed655f/32.png) [@Kedikat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kedikat)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-rheumatoid-arthritis-no-pills-for-you-you-might-use-them-for-an-abortion/972767/12 "2022-10-06T02:07:22Z")
There were some pharmacists that would not fill prescriptions for a certain drug related to Covid 19 issues. Not sure about laws in every state, but it seems they legally could/should have, within the law. But just because you are quite sure you are in the right legally, does not mean you are safe from what is sometimes called lawfare ( analogous to warfare ). Just defending your lawful action can be financially and reputation wise, ruinous. ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-rheumatoid-arthritis-no-pills-for-you-you-might-use-them-for-an-abortion/972767/13 "2022-10-06T07:31:37Z")
Some of the reason for the pharmacist’s reluctance probably had to do with the dosage. My son had juvenile idiopathic (rheumatoid) arthritis, diagnosed at age 3. His rheumatologist put him on methotrexate immediately after the diagnosis. Apparently, effective doses for juveniles are way higher than for adults - they metabolize it much faster, or something. So the pharmacist, understandably nervous about breaking a 19th century law that had just recently been reinstated by the action of a single judge, and seeing a (comparatively) huge dose of methotrexate specified, may well have worried about the possibility of providing an abortifacient dose rather than a medicinal dose. This is going to keep happening for a while until the law on the subject becomes clearer.