Source: NCDOJ
Late last month, a coalition of 24 attorneys generals urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a lower court’s ruling that restricts access to reproductive health care.
North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein joined the national bipartisan effort to protect access to medication abortion.
“No woman should ever have to worry about whether she can get the medication she needs,” stated Attorney General Josh Stein, in a press release. “I will continue to do everything in my power to stand up for women’s reproductive freedoms.”
In support of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) and Danco Laboratories LLC, the coalition of attorneys generals is fighting to reverse a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruling that reinstated restrictions on the medication abortion drug mifepristone.
Mifepristone, which was approved by the FDA in 2000, is a safe and effective abortion care option. According to the ACLU, mifepristone is endorsed by leading medical authorities like the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists across the country.
Even before Roe v. Wade was overturned, the abortion pill accounted for more than half of abortions across the country. The prescribed medication has allowed individuals to get reproductive care as early as possible when it is safest, least expensive, and least invasive.
According to Attorney General Stein’s office, these restrictions on mifepristone could have dangerous consequences for women’s reproductive health care, particularly for underserved communities.
“No one should have to worry about whether their health care information will be kept private when they go to the doctor to get the care they need,” stated New York Attorney General Letitia James, in a press release. “While anti-choice state legislatures across the nation are stripping away our reproductive freedom and seeking access to health care data, it is imperative that we take every measure to safeguard Americans’ privacy.
If the Fifth Circuit’s decision takes effect, it could take away access to an effective method of abortion, harming countless individuals seeking medical care, Attorney General Stein notes.
In addition, the decision could lead to widespread confusion among providers, distributors, and pharmacies; and increase risks, costs, and delays for much-needed reproductive health care.
Read the brief here.
