(AFP) – A coalition of attorneys general across states including New York, Minnesota, and Arizona vowed Monday to protect access to mifepristone, the medication used in the majority of abortions in the United States. The move comes as the Trump administration has reportedly launched a review into the medication’s safety, in what many abortion rights organizations have dubbed a blatant attempt to undermine health care access.
“The decision to reexamine access to this medication was made in response to a scientifically baseless letter and ignores decades of research that prove mifepristone is safe and effective,” read the joint statement that included New York’s Attorney General Letitia James, who co-led the coalition of 20 officials in the effort. “Medical decisions should be left between patients, their families, and their providers – and they should be guided by science, not political agendas,” the statement continued. “If access to mifepristone is challenged, we will take action to protect it,” it added.
Officials who co-signed the initiative represented Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington state, and the District of Columbia. Trump’s health chief Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary reportedly delivered a letter to 22 Republican attorneys general saying that the FDA was conducting its own review of the pill.
Proponents of reviewing mifepristone’s safety have cited a study — which was not peer-reviewed and published on a website, not in a scientific journal — conducted by a conservative think-tank. The Ethics & Public Policy Center (EPPC) says its priorities include “pushing back against the extreme progressive agenda while building a consensus for conservatives.”
The medication has been used for 25 years in the United States. It is the most common method for abortion care and is also routinely used for managing early miscarriage. Mifepristone, which prevents pregnancy progression, and misoprostol, which empties the uterus, are approved to terminate a pregnancy up to 70 days of gestation in the United States.
© 2024 AFP
