Press Releases
01/30/2024
Governor Lamont and Coalition of Governors Urge the U.S. Supreme Court To Protect Access to Abortion Medication Mifepristone
Governors of the Reproductive Freedom Alliance Urge Court To Recognize FDA Expertise, Longstanding Authority To Determine Safety of Medications
(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont today joined a coalition of 22 governors from states across the U.S. in filing an amicus curiae brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Food and Drug Administration, et al., v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, arguing that, if the court allows a recent Fifth Circuit decision to stand, it could undermine governors’ ability to provide adequate healthcare services and would have far-reaching implications beyond reproductive healthcare.
The coalition of governors is known as the Reproductive Freedom Alliance. The group is a nonpartisan alliance committed to protecting and expanding reproductive freedom in the states they represent.
“Doctors have been safely prescribing Mifepristone for decades, and the only reason efforts to ban this drug are now making their way through the courts is for politically motivated purposes to restrict the ability of Americans to make these decisions themselves,” Governor Lamont said. “I stand with governors from across the country in calling on the Supreme Court to protect the ability of Americans to access this medication, and to recognize the independent scientific authority of the FDA.”
Mifepristone is an abortion medication that has been used by more than five million people since FDA approval, and it is a critical component of reproductive healthcare. The Fifth Circuit’s unprecedented ruling, if unchecked, overrides the agency’s evidence-based scientific approval process, allowing ideological extremists to overrule medical experts and decades of scientific evidence.
The Reproductive Freedom Alliance includes the following governors:
- Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs
- California Governor Gavin Newsom
- Colorado Governor Jared Polis
- Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont
- Delaware Governor John Carney
- Guam Governor Lourdes Leon Guerrero
- Hawai'i Governor Josh Green
- Illinois Governor JB Pritzker
- Maine Governor Janet Mills
- Maryland Governor Wes Moore
- Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey
- Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer
- Minnesota Governor Tim Walz
- New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy
- New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham
- New York Governor Kathy Hochul
- North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper
- Oregon Governor Tina Kotek
- Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro
- Rhode Island Governor Daniel McKee
- Washington Governor Jay Inslee
- Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers
Governor Lamont announced his intent to join the Reproductive Freedom Alliance in early 2023.
**Download: Amicus curiae brief from the Reproductive Freedom Alliance
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