Spanberger Statement on Supreme Court Ruling to Maintain Mifepristone Access

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger today released the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order to temporarily block federal court judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk’s ruling that would have suspended the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) approval of the drug.

“Judge Kacsmaryk’s ruling not only sought to invalidate mifepristone’s decades-long, science-based approval, but threatened the authority of the federal agency responsible for ensuring the safety and efficacy of the prescription drugs administered to Americans. While we have staved off brazen judicial overreach and extreme restrictions on a medication used to provide safe abortions and manage devastating miscarriages for now, we should not come this dangerously close to women in every state — including those where abortion remains legal — being further stripped of access to reproductive care.

“This order maintains women’s access to mifepristone while litigation continues. But the rights of millions of Americans in Virginia and across our country are still under attack. We cannot waver in our determination to defend the right to privacy and a woman’s right to choose. Rather than charter new courses to punish women, lawmakers must remember their obligation to protect the basic rights of all Americans.”

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Last week, following Kacsmaryk’s ruling, Spanberger joined 239 Members of Congress in filing an amicus brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in the case of Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA to protect access to the drug.

After the Fifth Circuit ruled to block the use of mifepristone beyond seven weeks of pregnancy and barred its distribution by mail, Spanberger joined a new amicus brief alongside more than 250 lawmakers asking the Supreme Court to grant emergency relief from the Fifth Circuit ruling and stay Kacsmaryk’s district court ruling in its entirety.

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