NARAL Pro-Choice America Responds as Supreme Court Delays Decision On Mifepristone Access

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an administrative stay until Wednesday at midnight on two lower court efforts meant to restrict access to medication abortion with mifepristone nationwide.

NARAL Pro-Choice America President Mini Timmaraju released the following statement in response:

"While medication abortion remains accessible for now, this case should never have been heard in the first place. Nothing about the rulings from the lower courts' Trump-appointed judges had any basis in medical science–both are steeped in reckless disinformation and total disregard for the law. As this case continues, safe and effective medication abortion in all 50 states is at severe risk."

Last Friday, Trump-appointed Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ruled against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to block its approval of mifepristone. Then on April 13, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a partial stay while reinstating outdated and medically unnecessary restrictions while litigation continues.

Mifepristone is one of the two medications typically used in medication abortion care. Medication abortion accounts for more than half of all abortion care nationwide and has been safely used for over 20 years. Medication abortion care is safer than Tylenol. Kacsmaryk's ruling would be the first time in history that a court is overturning a science-based approval of a safe and tested medicine—potentially threatening approval of all FDA-approved medications, including hormone blockers, HIV/AIDS medications, and vaccines.

These rulings come after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization—ending the constitutional right to abortion and opening the door for extremist state lawmakers to ban abortion. The Dobbs decision is already having a devastating impact throughout the country as 18 states have eliminated or restricted access because of abortion bans.

The people hurt most by these bans and restrictions are those who already face barriers to accessing abortion care—including women; Black, Latina/x, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Indigenous people; those working to make ends meet; the LGBTQ+ community; immigrants; young people; those living in rural communities; people with disabilities, and other historically oppressed communities.

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