FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 17, 2023
CONTACT: Emily Witt (she/hers), [email protected]
AUSTIN, Texas – The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today held oral arguments in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA, which would restrict nationwide access to mifepristone, a drug commonly used in abortion procedures.
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay on the 5th Circuit Court’s decision to block access to mifepristone while litigation plays out, which defended broad access to the drug across the United States in its first abortion-related ruling since overturning Roe v. Wade. The case to restrict mifepristone use nationally continued to move toward a ruling today with oral arguments.
Texas Freedom Network Executive Director and President Val Benavidez (she/her) issued the following response:
“The radical right will stop at nothing to make abortion as dangerous and inaccessible as possible — and is exposing its own ideological hypocrisy in the process. While the repeal of Roe v. Wade was justified as a return of power to the states, this decision would restrict the use of mifepristone nationwide based on the rules in one state. The right’s vendetta against abortion has always been about meddling in our healthcare decisions, not limited government. That has never been clearer than it is today.
“The 5th Circuit Court is coming closer than ever to making critical reproductive care even less accessible to people who are underpaid and patients of color. If they uphold the lower court’s ruling, judges are turning their back on science, the law, and people who give birth; but we will not give up the fight for safe and legal abortion any time soon. As competing federal lawsuits make their way up the court system, we must keep the pressure on in Texas and across the U.S.”
