Democratic Women’s Caucus Responds to 5th Circuit Court Decision on Mifepristone Case: “We’ll Keep Fighting Back”
(Washington, DC) – Today, Democratic Women’s Caucus Chair Lois Frankel (FL-22) issued the following statement on the decision from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in the case Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA. While the decision maintains the FDA’s original approval of mifepristone, it imposes harmful restrictions that will severely impact access to the abortion medication. The decision would reverse science-backed steps from the FDA since 2016, and would limit approval of mifepristone to 7 weeks of gestation instead of the previously approved 10 weeks, ban mail delivery, require patients to make multiple in-person doctor visit and restrict who can prescribe the medication.
“Let’s be perfectly clear: this decision isn’t a ‘compromise’ or a ‘partial win,’ it is another set back for reproductive freedom. This decision ignores science, undermines the FDA, and threatens women’s ability to access a safe, effective form of medication abortion.
“The painful reality is that yet another set of far-right MAGA judges have decided they know better than the medical experts at the FDA about the drug approval process, and they know better than women and their doctors about women’s personal medical decisions. It’s cruel, it’s wrong, and it absolutely cannot stand. The Democratic Women’s Caucus fought back after an Amarillo Texas court’s horrific decision, and we’ll keep fighting back against this one too. We're glad the Biden Administration is appealing this decision to the Supreme Court. Women, not politicians or judges, should be in control of their own personal decision of if and when to grow their own family.”
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