So far, candidates' plans for protecting abortion rights have consisted primarily of pledges to codify Roe v. Wade , which would require pro-choice majorities in the House and Senate to pass federal legislation upholding the principles of Roe in the event that the Supreme Court overturns or guts the 1973 decision.

The October and November debates finally saw Democratic presidential candidates answer questions about abortion from moderators, months after reproductive health organizations and pro-choice advocates launched a pressure campaign to get 2020 contenders to talk about the issue on primetime television.

Reproductive health experts have said that one of the most effective ways to expand access to abortion would be to lift the longstanding restrictions on mifepristone, one of two drugs doctors prescribe for medication abortion, or abortion done with pills early in pregnancy. As they stand, the restrictions—put in place by the Food and Drug Administration in 2000—make it illegal to sell the drug online or dispense it in pharmacies. Doctors must receive specialized training to prescribe the drug, which means not all do, and can only administer it in person, in a clinic or hospital setting. (The second drug, misoprostol, is not under the same restrictions, but both are required for the procedure.)

In order to have a more comprehensive conversation about the state of abortion access in the U.S., we asked the seven candidates who've qualified for the December 19 debate about their stance on something very specific: medication abortion .

Not only does such a plan depend on Democrats' ability to win back the Senate, but it ignores the extent to which Roe has failed to guarantee abortion access for millions of Americans, particularly low-income people. Even with Roe on the books, as of 2017, almost 90 percent of counties in the United States had no abortion clinic, and in 27 states , people seeking abortions have to make multiple trips to a provider, due to state-mandated waiting periods of up to 72 hours. A federal ban on insurance coverage of abortions for people with Medicaid is another obstacle.

Currently, almost 40 percent of abortions are done with pills, a record high. But experts say that percentage could be much higher were it not for the decades-old FDA regulations, which have been opposed by organizations like the World Health Organization and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Lifting the restrictions would also mean more people would have access to early abortion, since medication abortions occur before the 10-week mark.

“This is a method patients are becoming more comfortable with,” Elizabeth Nash, the senior states issues manager at Guttmacher Institute, told VICE in September. “If the FDA lifted the restrictions on mifepristone, then it would be much more accessible. That would be a game changer for many patients.”

There are a few ways presidential candidates could address this crisis of access. A president could appoint an FDA commissioner who is open to revisiting the regulations on mifepristone. They could also take executive action on telemedicine: At the moment, 18 states have bans on providers prescribing medication abortion via telemedicine consults. Even if the FDA rolled back its mifepristone restrictions, telemedicine bans would keep medication abortion out of reach for many of the patients in those states, given the long distances they often have to travel to get in-person treatment.