Abortion pills will soon become more readily available after federal regulators this month cleared retail pharmacies to begin selling them. However, it remains to be seen how the pills will be advertised by pharmacies, if at all.

The regulation change for the abortion pill mifepristone, which is taken in sequence with another drug called misoprostol to facilitate a medical abortion, comes in the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision in June 2022 repealing the constitutional right to an abortion. The new abortion pill rule marks another instance of corporations being drawn into politically charged debates—this time involving pharmacies and advertising platforms such as Facebook, Google and Spotify.

Walgreens and CVS intend to become certified to sell the pill, according to brand spokespeople. CVS does not plan to advertise mifepristone or misoprostol, a representative said. Walgreens in a statement said: “As a general practice we do not advertise any prescription medications, and we will not be advertising mifepristone.”

Mifepristone—one version is sold commercially as Mifeprex from Danco Laboratories—could previously only be acquired online or at specific health centers with a prescription. Under a Food and Drug Administration rule change finalized on Jan. 3, people will now be able to take their prescriptions to a licensed pharmacy. Misoprostol is already available at retail pharmacies.

Mifepristone was first advertised in 2001 with a $2 million campaign funded by abortion provider group the National Abortion Federation, according to a Wall Street Journal article that year. The ads appeared in magazines such as Cosmopolitan, People and Vanity Fair, but were rejected by Hearst Corp.'s Redbook, according to the article, which noted the ad copy included lines such as, “You have the freedom to choose. And now, you have another safe abortion choice.”

More recent attempts to advertise abortion pills have been met with complications and controversy. 

For instance, digital platforms have been criticized for their regulation of abortion pill advertising and posts. Last year, Google, Facebook and Instagram were called out for removing ads and posts about abortion pills after the repeal of Roe v. Wade. Spotify in September of last year came under scrutiny for rejecting an ad about how to get abortion pills from abortion-focused nonprofit Mayday Health.

One of the pill’s two U.S. manufacturers, Danco Laboratories, said in an emailed statement that it “hasn't done any print advertising in quite a while. Danco attends conferences and communicates with constituents at those meetings. Providers and those interested in carrying the product [currently] reach out to Danco directly.” A spokesperson clarified that the company also has not run digital or social ads. The other manufacturer—GenBioPro—was not available for comment. 

Now that the opportunity to sell the pills has been expanded, advertising platforms are facing decisions over whether to change their policies. “We’re seeing early signals that platforms will seek small but meaningful tweaks to their ad policies,” said Robb Henzi, senior VP of strategy and head of policy and philanthropy practice at Omnicom-owned culture consultancy Sparks & Honey. 

But “policies about any type of abortion-related content will likely not remain stable due to the many pressures these platforms may face,” including “political and customer uproar,” Roberta Clarke, associate professor of marketing at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business, stated in an email. This could include political actions such as a proposal by the anti-abortion group National Right to Life Committee in June last year to make it a crime to advertise information about abortions, including ads for abortion pills. 

There is also the question of whether ads can run in states that have banned abortion. This is subject to broader legal uncertainty and depends on the Supreme Court and state courts, said Rebecca Tushnet, professor of law at Harvard Law School.

Under current laws, retail pharmacies are theoretically able to advertise the pills in states where abortion isn’t legal, provided that the pills are sold in states where it is legal, said Tushnet, citing the precedent of the Supreme Court case Bigelow vs. Virginia. 

The case, which involved a Virginia newspaper editor convicted of a misdemeanor for publishing an ad offering abortion services in New York, established that abortion ads are protected by the First Amendment because the services were legal in New York and therefore the ads were truthful commercial speech.

But “even if it might be legal, platforms might not want to deal with it” because it’s too controversial, said Tushnet. “I assume that states will try to threaten [platforms] into not allowing it,” and the Supreme Court could also overrule the precedent, she said.

Google allows ads for abortion pills, according to a representative, “provided that the advertisers have successfully completed the appropriate certification processes (for abortion ads and pharmaceutical providers/manufacturers) and abide by our other ads policies.”

When asked whether retail pharmacies are allowed to advertise the pills, and if the platform would change its policy, a spokesperson for Google stated in an email that “as this space [evolves] and new providers become eligible to dispense these products, we will evaluate whether or how we need to make any additional updates or clarifications to our policy.” 

“This process [to change policy] does not happen instantaneously. We want to make sure that any changes we make to our advertising policies strike the right balance between providing a safe experience for users and helping eligible advertisers to run ads,” said the spokesperson.

Meta’s current policy doesn’t prevent retail pharmacies from advertising abortion pills on its platforms, according to a spokesperson. Advertisers need to become certified through LegitScript and follow the company’s prescription drugs advertising policies, said the spokesperson. Under that policy, the platform currently does not list retail pharmacies as an entity that can become a certified advertiser. When asked whether it would make this addition, the spokesperson said, “We are always reviewing our policies and procedures to try and enhance the experience for advertisers, while also protecting users of our platforms.”

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Clarification: This story has been updated with a statement from Walgreens.

A Spotify spokesperson said that the platform currently “does not prohibit retail pharmacies from advertising abortion pills.” Spotify currently does not list retail pharmacies under its advertising policies as those able to advertise and be verified by LegitScript. The platform did not provide a direct answer as to whether they’ll add retail pharmacies to the list.

TikTok did not respond to requests for comment about its abortion pills ad policy. According to its policies, “over-the-counter or prescription drugs must be approved by the regional regulating authority and may not contain misleading or inaccurate claims.” The platform’s policies also state that “we do allow advertisements for brick and mortar pharmacies and online pharmacies that are certified by a third-party licensing organization such as the NABP or LegitScript or regional equivalent.”

Twitter could not be reached for comment or clarification about its abortion pills ad policy. The company on its website states that “advertisements for brick and mortar pharmacies are permitted, provided that they do not promote the online sale or refill of prescription drugs.” 

When it comes to TV networks, NBCUniversal allows for prescription drug advertising if the drugs comply with FDA guidelines. The platform has never had a request for an abortion drug-related ad, according to an NBCU spokesperson. All ads are subject to review by NBCU’s standards team, said the spokesperson.

Other TV and streaming networks including Disney, WarnerMedia, Fox and Paramount did not respond to requests for comment.

Since 2015, there have been no national linear TV ads mentioning “abortion pill” or the names of specific drugs, according to a search of TV ad measurement company iSpot.tv.