Chicago – Attorney General Kwame Raoul, as part of a coalition of 24 attorneys general, filed an amicus brief to protect access to the medication abortion drug mifepristone. In the brief filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, Raoul and the coalition argue the recent decision by a Texas district court judge suspending the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) approval of mifepristone would do serious harm to Americans’ access to the medication abortion drug.
“A decision by a single judge in Texas to disrupt access to a medication that has proven to be both safe and effective is unprecedented,” Raoul said. “I proactively joined a lawsuit in Washington to preserve access in Illinois, and I will continue to fight to protect the rights of Illinoisans to access reproductive health care and to make their own health care decisions.”
In their brief filed in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA, Raoul and the coalition argue that the FDA’s determination that the medication abortion drug mifepristone is safe and effective is supported by an overwhelming medical consensus developed over more than two decades of use. The coalition also argues that the FDA’s subsequent regulatory actions, including authorizing the generic version of mifepristone, permitting qualified clinicians other than physicians to authorize its usage, and enabling its distribution by mail are all backed by solid evidence.
The coalition urges the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit to reverse the lower court ruling and notes that – if it is allowed to stand – it will harm millions of Americans, with underserved groups including women of color, low-income women, people with disabilities and LGBTQ+ individuals being hardest hit.
In March, Raoul and a coalition of 17 states proactively filed a lawsuit to preserve access to mifepristone for patients in Illinois. On April 7, a federal judge in Washington issued an injunction preventing the FDA from reducing the availability of medication abortion in Illinois and other participating states.
Joining Raoul in filing today’s brief are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.
