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Attorney General William Tong

04/10/2023

Attorney General Tong Joins Multistate Coalition to Fight Back Against Decision to Block Mifepristone Access

(Hartford, CT) -- Attorney General William Tong today joined a multistate coalition to challenge the decision issued by a district court judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas that could restrict access to the medication abortion drug mifepristone nationwide.

The amicus brief, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, urges the court to stay pending appeal the district court’s ruling, which if allowed to take effect would halt the over two-decade old approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of mifepristone.

“Revoking federal approval for mifepristone will drastically reduce access to safe abortion care and miscarriage management for millions of people across the country and needlessly endanger lives. As I said this morning, this decision has zero basis in science or the law, which is why we are going to keep fighting for the women and patients under attack by this radical, dangerous decision,” Attorney General Tong said.

This ruling comes in a challenge brought by anti-abortion groups seeking to revoke the FDA’s approval of mifepristone. On April 7, Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas ordered the FDA to stay its long-standing approval of mifepristone. The court’s order does not take effect immediately, as the district court put its ruling on hold for seven days to give the federal government and the drug manufacturer an opportunity to appeal.

The coalition is urging the appeals court to continue to stay the lower court’s unprecedented and legally erroneous decision pending the appeal, given the decades of clinical research and studies that have confirmed mifepristone’s safety and the critical role medication abortion plays in reproductive health care, particularly in low-income, underserved, and rural communities.

The coalition notes that if the lower court decision takes effect, it could drastically curtail abortion access for millions of Americans. Mifepristone, which was first approved by the FDA in 2000 and has passed subsequent reviews, has been particularly critical in providing access to safe abortion care in low-income, underserved, and rural communities. According to current estimates, medication abortion accounts for over half, approximately 54 percent, of all abortions performed in the United States.

Obstructing access to mifepristone would increase demand for surgical abortions significantly, resulting in patients undergoing procedures which are more risky, complicated, and costly. Moreover, lack of access to safe abortion care leads to worsened health outcomes and higher mortality, especially for Black women.

Joining Attorney General Tong in filing today’s amicus brief are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia.

Click here to read the full brief.

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