Congresswoman: “We Should Never Have Come This Close to the Fundamental Freedoms of Women in Virginia and Across the Country Being Stripped Away”

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger today released the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling to uphold access to mifepristone.

“Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade nearly two years ago, anti-choice politicians have been on a crusade to ban abortion nationwide. Today’s decision is a temporary victory for reproductive freedom, but these attacks are far from over — as evidenced by 147 of my colleagues having backed efforts to ban this safe, long-approved drug that more than five million women have taken free from government interference.

“We should never have come this close to fundamental freedoms of women in Virginia and across the country being stripped away. As the mother of three girls, I feel strongly that our daughters should not have to fight the battles that our mothers won — and I will not stand idly by while extreme lawmakers and judges continue to bring millions of women across our country to the precipice of losing access to reproductive care.”

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In April 2023, following a federal court judge’s ruling to suspend the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) approval of mifepristone, 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.

Later that month, 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 a Texas-based federal judge’s ruling that suspended the FDA’s 2000 approval of the drug.

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