Attorney General William Tong continued his efforts to protect access to medication abortion in an amicus brief filed in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Joining with a multistate coalition, Attorney General Tong argues 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 AG Tong’s ongoing fight to protect rights to privacy, health care options, and medication abortion access.
“Medication abortion is safe, legal, and accessible in Connecticut. We’re fighting in every forum, at every step of this case to make sure it stays that way, and to protect the rights and bodily autonomy of women and patients everywhere,” said Attorney General Tong in a release on Tuesday.
In the amicus brief filed by Attorney General Tong 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 Tong in filing today’s amicus brief in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.
Medication abortion is safe, legal, and accessible in Connecticut. Attorney General Tong issued a formal opinion on April 14 ensuring there would be no ambiguity as to patients’ rights to access abortion, providers’ ability to prescribe mifepristone, and the state’s ability to cover mifepristone under its Medicaid program.