This article argues how mifepristone and misoprostol should be  reclassified as a ‘core’ essential medicine on the WHO Essential Medicines list. “Continuing to subjugate essential medicines for medical abortion to domestic law and cultural practices is incoherent with today’s human rights standards in which universal access to these medicines is an inextricable part of the right to sexual and reproductive health, which should be supported and realized through domestic legislation.