LANSING, Mich. (Aug. 19, 2023) — On Aug. 16, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld parts of a lower court ruling issued by Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk last spring, ruling that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should not have made its 2016 and 2021 changes — which expanded access to medication abortions — to mifepristone, one of two pills used in medication abortions. This week’s decision is not immediately effective due to a stay issued by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Sen. Erika Geiss (D-Taylor) issued the following statement regarding the Fifth Circuit’s ruling in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration:
“This ruling by the Fifth Circuit has no basis in science, medicine or law. This is yet another political attack on people’s bodily autonomy and right to access reproductive healthcare. While this ruling is not currently in effect, it has the potential to impact people’s access to abortion nationwide. This case is another step toward anti-abortion extremists‘ end goal of banning abortion, but we will continue fighting back against these distortive, meritless, unjust rulings.”
“To be clear, this outrageous decision does not affect current access to mifepristone, which is still available and FDA approved. We know that mifepristone is safe and effective and people should be able to make the healthcare decisions that are best for them and their circumstances. While this case works its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, the effort to protect bodily autonomy and access to reproductive healthcare will not stop because of a baseless decision by the Fifth Circuit.”
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