Nearly 600 Democratic state lawmakers have signed a letter challenging a federal judge’s ruling that overturned the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, saying “the health and well-being of our constituents we are put in office to protect is at great risk.”
The 588 legislators who signed up came from every state except North Dakota, a sign of how the party sees promoting access to mifepristone, one of two drugs involved in medical abortions, and defending the Food and Drug Administration from political interference as a winning issue. in conservative areas.
“Keeping abortion legal and accessible is supported by the will of the people, and that movement will not stop because of decisions in factual and procedural legal cases brought to court by anti-abortion extremists,” said Jennifer Driver, director of reproductive rights at the State Innovation Exchange. , a liberal network of chartered state legislatures. “With this letter, state lawmakers from across the country are making it clear that everyone should have access to a variety of reproductive health options and that we should keep mifepristone on the shelf — not remove it.”
The pharmaceutical industry, major medical groups and Democrats all criticized the decision by Matt Kacsmaryk, the US district judge in Texas appointed by President Donald Trump. He argued the decision substituted Kacsmaryk’s political judgment for the scientific judgment of FDA experts, and threatened the broader prescription drug industry.
The lawmaker’s letter supports that argument.
“Over the past two decades, researchers have demonstrated the safety and efficacy of mifepristone through peer-reviewed research studies,” the letter said. “As the most commonly used form of abortion medication, mifepristone has a higher safety record than Tylenol. As state lawmakers, we rely on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve drugs like mifepristone for our constituents through a scientific process – not politics. We worried that the preliminary injunction issued by Judge Kascmaryk in Texas would set a dangerous precedent for how we review and approve drugs as a developed country.
The battle also comes as state legislatures across the country are battling over abortion rights in a new landscape created by last year’s Supreme Court decision striking down Roe v. Wade guarantees the right to abortion. In North Carolina, state representative Julie von Haefen (D) is introducing legislation to expand access to medication abortions — though a new GOP majority means more abortion restrictions are on the way.
“We are the only country left in the south where abortion is legal up to 20 weeks,” said von Haefen, one of the letter’s signatories. “This decision could destroy us, in a country where there are so many people to take care of.”
In Michigan, meanwhile, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) signed the repeal of the century-old abortion ban into law earlier this month. Another letter signer, state Sen. Erika Geiss, said the success of Democrats in the state in the 2022 midterm elections shows abortion rights are a winning issue for the party.
“People are very galvanized about this issue,” Geiss said. “They don’t want to see health care providers criminalized for doing their job.”
Mifepristone is used in more than half of abortions in the United States, according to FDA data, and public surveys show wide support for keeping it legal. A Pew Research Center poll found that 53% of Americans think abortion drugs should be legal in their state, while only 22% say they should be illegal. Conservative Republicans are the only subgroup of the population that clearly thinks the drug should be illegal.