ACLU of Washington Statement on Supreme Court ruling in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA

News Release: 
Thursday, June 13, 2024
Updated: 
Thursday, June 13, 2024
For Immediate Release
June 13, 2024

Media Contact: [email protected]
 
Washington, D.C. — The Supreme Court, on Thursday, ruled against advocates pursuing an anti-abortion agenda who sought to restrict access to mifepristone, a safe and effective medication used in the majority of abortions nationwide.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved mifepristone more than 20 years ago and expanded access to the drug in 2016, and again in 2021, when it allowed providers to prescribe the medication through telehealth services and via mail. The court weighed if opponents had a right to challenge the FDA’s expansion of access to the drug.

Thursday’s ruling leaves in place the FDA’s 2016 and 2021 decisions, maintaining current access to the drug.

Michele Storms, executive director for the ACLU of Washington, had the following statement:

“Everyone deserves the right to make their own decisions for their reproductive health without interference from politicians or the courts. We all know mifepristone is a safe drug that has been used for decades. The effort to restrict it is just another step toward anti-abortion activists’ end goal of banning abortion nationwide, even in states where it is legal. We must continue to do everything we can to protect and expand abortion access and our right to bodily autonomy, not just in this case, but in the ongoing attacks on reproductive freedom.”

Leah Rutman, health policy director for the ACLU of Washington, had the following statement:

“We are relieved by today’s ruling, which preserves access to mifepristone despite yet another attempt from anti-abortion extremists to ban critical reproductive health services. Reinstating restrictions to mifepristone would have created unnecessary and harmful barriers to access for people seeking an abortion.
 
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