North Baltimore Journal

BALTIMORE, MD – Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown has continued efforts to protect Americans' right to access mifepristone for medication abortions. In an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, Attorney General Brown and a coalition of 24 Attorneys General argue that a decision issued by a district court judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, if allowed to stand, would endanger millions of Americans. 

A recent United States Supreme Court decision preserved access to Mifepristone while court battles like this one in Texas continue. This is now the second amicus brief Attorney General Brown has joined asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to reject the lower court ruling in Texas. In the first brief we joined on April 10, 2023, we asked the Appeals court to stay the lower court order. In this amicus brief, we are asking the court to reverse the lower court order. 

“I said I would continue to fight. I will not let my guard down in protecting and ensuring equal access to abortion care, including the medication mifepristone. We must prevent needless harm to individuals seeking safe reproductive health care,” said Attorney General Brown. “The implications for restricting mifepristone are clear – there will be inequity in health care options and lives will be put at risk.” 

In the brief filed 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 a disproportionate effect on women of color, low-income women, people living in rural areas, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ individuals.

Joining Attorney General Brown in filing today’s brief are the Attorneys General of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin. 

Original source can be found here.