Attorney General Mayes and Coalition of Attorneys General Urge Supreme Court to Reverse Lower Court's Ruling on Medication Abortion

PHOENIX — Attorney General Kris Mayes today joined a multistate coalition of attorneys general to protect access to medication abortion nationwide. The coalition of attorneys general filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) and Danco Laboratories LLC's petitions to reverse the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit's ruling that reinstated certain medically unnecessary, and previously eliminated, restrictions on the medication.
 
"The Fifth Circuit's decision to place unwarranted restrictions on mifepristone is not just misguided— it's hazardous," said Attorney General Mayes. "Access to medication abortion is critical for patients across our country, especially in low-income and underserved areas. The Supreme Court should reverse the Fifth Circuit ruling and protect access to this safe and effective medication."
 
Mifepristone is the only FDA-approved abortion medication, and the coalition argues that the Fifth Circuit's ruling has dangerous consequences on reproductive health care outcomes, particularly for low-income and underserved communities. 
 
Attorney General Mayes and the coalition are urging the Supreme Court to grant the petitions to bring the case on medication abortion before the court. The coalition asks the Supreme Court to reverse the Fifth Circuit's poorly reasoned decision restricting how mifepristone can be prescribed and dispensed. The amicus brief highlights that the Fifth Circuit's decision ignores decades of high-quality evidence and clinical research that shows mifepristone is safe and effective. 
 
The coalition notes that if the Fifth Circuit's decision is permitted to take effect, it could disrupt access to the most common method of abortion, harming countless individuals in need of abortion care or management of pregnancy loss, with widespread implications for the healthcare system. The ruling could lead many individuals to undergo procedural abortion, push abortion procedures later in pregnancy, drive up risks, costs, and delays, and deprive many individuals of access to reproductive health care altogether. The coalition further argues that the ruling would create widespread confusion among providers, distributors, and pharmacies and radically destabilize the regulatory process for drug approvals, stifling scientific innovation and imperiling the development and availability of thousands of drugs nationwide. 
 
Joining Attorney General Mayes in submitting today's amicus brief are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai'i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.
 
Earlier this year, Attorney General Mayes joined a multi-state coalition of 16 other states and the District of Columbia to successfully preserve access to mifepristone in Arizona through a separate case in the Eastern District of Washington.