Washington D.C. – Following last night’s decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to block patients’ access nationwide to mifepristone via mail or pharmacies in Louisiana et al. v. FDA, multiple applications for emergency relief are expected today to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Democracy Forward President and CEO Skye Perryman, who oversaw the legal effort to make mifepristone available by mail during the COVID-19 pandemic as then-Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, issued the following statement:
“The assault on women’s health in America did not stop when we lost Dobbs. In fact, far right extremists have long weaponized the courts to ensure that their political decisions – not medical evidence – dictated access to reproductive healthcare. Attacks on abortion clinics and providers, funding freezes and judicial decisions that jeopardize the health and welfare of women are not new. But they are no less devastating for those who rely on them.
“Women’s ability to access mifepristone through the mail or from their pharmacy has revolutionized access to care. Now, as anti-abortion extremists seek to employ their anti-abortion playbook and reverse this hard-fought victory for patients, this decision needlessly blocks people around the country from critical healthcare, discriminating in particular against those who live in rural and other areas where healthcare is inaccessible.
“This is the anti-abortion extremists’ playbook in action: weaponize the courts to serve their political interests, ignore decades of scientific evidence proving mifepristone’s safety, and put women directly in harm’s way,
“While I am not surprised by the Fifth Circuit’s decision, it is my hope that the U.S. Supreme Court recognizes the alarming reality that our nation is once again facing a generational-defining moment for women’s healthcare. The Court’s emergency docket, which has been increasingly misused to roll back rights and harm communities in non-emergency situations during this term, may now be a last hope for women who have the right to make their own decisions about their medical treatment.”
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Democracy Forward Foundation is a national legal organization that advances democracy and social progress through litigation, policy, public education, and regulatory engagement. For more information, please visit www.democracyforward.org.
