Why is UMass buying 15,000 doses of the abortion pill mifepristone?

Because they quickly can, according to a spokesperson for Gov. Maura Healey.

The $675,000 purchase is in response to a Texas-based judge’s decision to ban access to the drug considered the nation’s most commonly used method of abortion. The purchase also circumvents the order of U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk that has states all across the country scrambling.

“UMass already had all necessary certifications to purchase mifepristone and currently provides medication abortion through their university health services,” the spokesperson said. “They were willing and able to jump into action quickly when we made the request.”

Last Friday, in response to a lawsuit filed on behalf of a religious liberty group, Kacsmaryk issued a nationwide ban on the FDA-approved drug which is scheduled to go into effect this Friday, pending other legal filings which may stay or delay the ban.

According to his ruling, Kacsmaryk felt plaintiff lawyers had demonstrated to him that the Food and Drug Administration — when approving the abortion drug in 2000 — failed to follow proper safety protocols potentially placing women at risk of harm from the abortion pill.

Kacsmaryk’s decision, according to advocates and the defendants in the case, is at odds with over 100 studies on the drug and its effects on health.

Healey, in response to the ruling, issued an executive order Monday clarifying Massachusetts law for healthcare providers and reminding them that abortion was protected under the state constitution.

The governor also asked UMass President Marty Meehan to use the university’s medical operations to secure a year’s supply of the potentially-soon-to-be-banned drug at a cost of about $675,000.

The college had both the ability to buy the medicine — they have their own medical system — and the willingness, according to its leadership.

“We are proud to stand alongside Gov. Healey and stand up for access to reproductive healthcare,” Meehan said Monday in Boston. “UMass has always made a commitment to improving the lives of the people of Massachusetts. Throughout our history the University has, on occasion, been asked to mobilize its resources to address a critical need in the Commonwealth.”

Mifepristone is still available for prescription nationwide and will continue to be available in Massachusetts, according to Healey.

“Nothing has changed and nothing is going to change. We’re going to make sure that we stay course here in Massachusetts and ride this out. People in Massachusetts will be protected,” she said Monday.

Marketed under the name Mifeprex, mifepristone can be used to prevent a potential pregnancy from becoming viable, according to manufacturer Danco Laboratories, by blocking the production of the hormone progesterone, “a naturally produced hormone that prepares the lining of the uterus for a fertilized egg and helps maintain pregnancy. Without progesterone, the pregnancy cannot continue.”