FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, October 22, 2024
Contact: Anne Shoup, [email protected]
Three GOP Attorneys General Have Filed Another Lawsuit Seeking to Limit Access to the Safe and Effective Pill Used in Abortion Care and Throw the FDA Approval Process Into Utter Chaos
Washington, D.C. — Earlier this month, Missouri, Idaho, and Kansas revived their lawsuit seeking to severely restrict access to mifepristone, a safe, effective abortion medication that has been on the market for over 24 years. It was filed before Judge Matthew Kacysmaryk, a federal judge in Texas who oversaw the previous lawsuit which sought to eliminate access to mifepristone. The Supreme Court rejected the previous challenge in June, holding that the anti-abortion plaintiffs lacked standing. The new lawsuit seeks to revive the case and reverse the FDA’s approval of expanded access to mifepristone, end the practice of prescribing mifepristone by telehealth providers, and ban anyone under the age of 18 from using mifepristone.
Meanwhile, just yesterday, the Biden-Harris Administration announced a new proposed rule to require insurance to cover over-the-counter contraception at no cost, just like prescription contraception, which would apply to 52 million people with private health insurance.
Mifepristone is a safe and effective medication that has been FDA-approved for 24 years and is the most common medication abortion regimen offered, accounting for more than 60 percent of all abortions in the United States. If the extreme attorneys general are successful, the repercussions would go far beyond abortion care – it would open the door for the politically motivated removal of other safe and effective drugs from the market, throwing the entire U.S. drug approval process into chaos.
In response, Protect Our Care Communications Director Anne Shoup issued a statement:
“Republicans are playing political games with vital health care services, putting lives in danger and opening the door to throw the entire FDA approval process into chaos. If the lawsuit is successful, any third party with a political agenda can challenge a medication they object to, and judges could ignore experts and arbitrarily rip away lifesaving drugs and vaccines from patients who rely on them. This case is yet another attack by MAGA extremists to deny people the freedom to make their own health care choices, attempting to undermine decades of research and the FDA’s scientific judgment.
“While Republicans continue to wage war on our health care system, the Biden-Harris administration is focused on expanding access to affordable health care. The administration’s new rule will give millions of Americans some peace of mind accessing reproductive health care after the overturning of Roe v. Wade at the hands of Donald Trump, expanding upon their previous work to lower costs, expand coverage, and protect reproductive care. The contrast could not be clearer – Republicans are set on ripping away critical health care and putting lives at risk at the same time the Biden-Harris administration is making sure everyone has the health care they need at an affordable price.”