(The Center Square) – Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes praised the United States Supreme Court’s unanimous decision to permit an abortion medication to continue to be sold legally.
Mifepristone is meant to “end a pregnancy” up to 10 weeks, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
“I applaud the unanimous decision by the US Supreme Court to uphold nationwide access to the drug Mifepristone. Millions of Americans have used Mifepristone safely and effectively for over two decades,” she said in a statement on Thursday morning.
“By reversing the disastrous ruling by the Fifth Circuit, today’s decision will save lives and avoid widespread confusion among providers, distributors, pharmacies, and patients. I am proud to have fought alongside my fellow attorneys general to ensure that this critical medication is available and accessible for Americans seeking reproductive health care,” she added.
Her office noted that an amicus brief was filed in the court in January, along with other states, in hopes that they would allow the drug to remain legal federally.
The case hinged on whether or not the FDA should allow the sale of the drug, but Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in the case that the plaintiffs, Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, did not have grounds to sue.
“Under Article III of the Constitution, a plaintiff’s desire to make a drug less available for others does not establish standing to sue. Nor do the plaintiffs’ other standing theories suffice. Therefore, the plaintiffs lack standing to challenge FDA’s actions,” Kavanaugh wrote in his opinion.
Meanwhile, the Center for Arizona Policy said they were unhappy with the court’s decision.
“Americans should be able to trust government health agencies to act in the interest of women’s and girls’ safety. Abortion drugs are dangerous enough, but the FDA made a series of ideological decisions that put women and girls at even greater risk,” Center for Arizona Policy President Cathi Herrod said in a statement. “The FDA relaxed safety requirements so radically that under the Biden Administration, pregnant women are now able to receive these dangerous drugs in the mail from foreign countries and take them alone without medical oversight. Up to one in 25 women and girls are forced to visit the emergency room after taking these drugs, so removing safeguards was an unconscionable act.”
Abortion has become a hotly debated issue in Arizona following the state’s Supreme Court ruling in April allowing a near-total ban on abortion law to become enforceable, but then the law was repealed by Gov. Katie Hobbs.
There could still be a window when that ban does become law, but the legislative could end in time to avoid that narrow time frame, as it takes roughly three months for legislation to take effect. Ultimately, voters are expected to have the final say with a proposed constitutional amendment likely to make the ballot in November, which would allow abortion up to “fetal viability,” but opponents have raised concerns that the language could permit the procedure past that mark.
