Press Releases
06/13/2024
Attorney General Tong Statement on Supreme Court Decision Preserving Access to Medication Abortion
(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong released the following statement regarding the unanimous decision issued today by the U.S. Supreme Court in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine preserving access to medication abortion.In its decision, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that had imposed medically unnecessary restrictions on the abortion medication mifepristone. The unanimous Court found that the plaintiffs, a group of doctors opposed to abortion, lacked “standing” to sue since they had not actually been injured by anything the FDA did. The decision does not address the merits of the case, leaving open the door to future challenges by differently situated plaintiffs. “[T]he plaintiffs want FDA to make mifepristone more difficult for other doctors to prescribe and for pregnant women to obtain. Under Article III of the Constitution, a plaintiff ’s desire to make a drug less available for others does not establish standing to sue,” the decision states.
Attorney General William Tong joined a multistate coalition of 24 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court defending access to medication abortion in this case.
“Medication abortion is safe, legal and accessible in Connecticut. That was true before today, and following this decision, it will stay that way. But let’s not think for one second that this threat is going away. Anti-choice radicals are combing this decision as we speak and have already started the process of coming back with new plaintiffs. We will fight back at every single step along the way to protect the rights of patients and providers to live their lives and do their jobs free from extremist political micromanagement,” said Attorney General Tong.
Since taking office, Attorney General Tong has fought to protect reproductive justice in every major case impacting abortion access, including filing briefs at multiple stages of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, which ultimately overturned Roe v. Wade.
Connecticut went on offense to protect access to mifepristone, filing a lawsuit along with 16 other plaintiff states and the District of Columbia in federal court in Washington State to protect access to medication abortion by challenging unnecessary burdensome restrictions on mifepristone. In a decision released immediately following the Northern District of Texas decision suspending mifepristone approval, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington barred the FDA from reducing access to mifepristone in Connecticut and the other plaintiff states. That case is ongoing.
Attorney General Tong issued a formal opinion last year ensuring there would be no ambiguity as to patients’ rights to access abortion, providers’ ability to prescribe mifepristone, and the state’s ability to cover mifepristone under its Medicaid program. That guidance is unchanged by today’s opinion.
Since 2000 when the FDA approved mifepristone as a single-dose oral medication used for early-term abortions, it has safely been used by about five million people to terminate pregnancy and manage miscarriages, and is used in more than half of all abortions today. In 2021, there were 9,562 abortions performed in Connecticut. Of those, nearly 64 percent were medication abortion using mifepristone. Years of research have continued to prove mifepristone’s safety and efficacy.
- Twitter: @AGWilliamTong
- Facebook: CT Attorney General
Media Contact:
Elizabeth Benton
elizabeth.benton@ct.gov
Consumer Inquiries:
860-808-5318
attorney.general@ct.gov