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Attorney General Aaron M. Frey Takes Action to Protect Medication Abortion Access
January 31, 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Danna Hayes
Danna.hayes@maine.gov
Attorney General Aaron M. Frey Takes Action to Protect Medication Abortion Access
Coalition of 24 Attorneys General Urges U.S. Supreme Court to
Reverse Lower Court’s Ruling Reinstating Unnecessary Restrictions on Access to Mifepristone
AUGUSTA– Attorney General Aaron Frey today joined a multistate coalition of 24 attorneys general to protect access to medication abortion nationwide. The coalition filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court supporting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) and Danco Laboratories LLC’s efforts to reverse a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that reinstated certain restrictions on the medication known as mifepristone, after the FDA had determined those restrictions were medically unnecessary. Because mifepristone is the only medication approved by the FDA for abortion care, Attorney General Frey and the coalition argue that the Fifth Circuit’s ruling reinstating medically unnecessary restrictions on mifepristone has dangerous consequences for reproductive health care outcomes, particularly for low-income and underserved communities.
“Anti-abortion activists have claimed in overturning Roe that abortion is an issue best left to the states, but they continue to attempt to restrict access for the entire country,” said Attorney General Frey. “There is no medically justified reason for the higher burden placed on people trying to obtain mifepristone.”
Attorney General Frey and the coalition of 24 attorneys general are urging the Supreme Court to reverse the Fifth Circuit’s decision to restrict how mifepristone can be prescribed and dispensed. The amicus brief highlights that the Fifth Circuit’s decision ignores decades of high-quality evidence and clinical research that shows mifepristone is safe and effective. The coalition also pointed out that the FDA’s decisions in 2016 to approve a modified label and reform the conditions for prescribing mifepristone were supported by robust safety data and decades of clinical experience.
The coalition notes that if the Fifth Circuit’s decision is permitted to take effect, it could disrupt access to the most common method of abortion, harming countless Americans in need of medical care or pregnancy loss management, with widespread disruptions for the health care system. Among other things, the lower court decision could lead many individuals to undergo procedural abortion, drive up risks, costs, and delays, and deprive many Americans of access to reproductive health care altogether. The coalition further argues that the ruling would create widespread confusion among providers, distributors, and pharmacies, and radically destabilize the regulatory process for drug approvals, stifling scientific innovation and imperiling the development and availability of thousands of drugs nationwide.
Joining Attorney General Frey in submitting today’s amicus brief are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.
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