FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Albuquerque, NM – Attorney General Raúl Torrez today continued his fight to protect the fundalmental right to safe and effective medication abortion access. Joining with a multi state coalition of attorneys general, Attorney General Torrez filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit arguing that the decision issued by a district court judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas would do serious harm to Americans’ access to the medication abortion drug, mifepristone. This amicus brief is part of Attorney General Torrez’s ongoing fight to protect Americans’ rights to privacy, health care options, and medication abortion access.
“The fact that a single, conservative judge is claiming that a decade-safe drug is harmful and should be banned places a colossal burden on millions of Americans and defies science,” said AG Torrez. “In addition to gatekeeping a safe and effective drug, the decision also places unnecessary stress and confusion on our medical field and medical professionals. I will continue to join these multi state efforts and lead my state through the fight to protect this fundamental right.”
In the amicus brief filed by New York Attorney General Leticia James and a coalition of 24 attorneys general in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA, the coalition argues that the FDA’s determination that the medication abortion drug mifepristone is safe and effective is supported by an overwhelming medical consensus developed over more than two decades of use. The coalition also argues that the FDA’s subsequent regulatory actions, including authorizing the generic version of mifepristone, permitting qualified clinicians other than physicians to authorize its usage, and enabling its distribution by mail, are all backed by solid evidence.
The coalition urges the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to reverse the lower court ruling and notes that if it is allowed to stand, it will harm millions of Americans, with underserved groups, including women of color, low-income women, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ individuals, being hardest hit.
Joining Attorney General Torrez in filing today’s amicus brief in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.
The amicus brief is below.
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