Press Release  AG Campbell Joins Multistate Coalition to Fight Back Against Decision to Block Medication Abortion Access

Continuing her commitment to protecting reproductive care, Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell today joined a multistate coalition of attorneys general in challenging a decision from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas that could restrict access to the abortion medication mifepristone nationwide.

In the amicus brief filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, AG Campbell urges the court to halt enforcement of the lower court’s preliminary injunction while the U.S. Department of Justice and a mifepristone manufacturer appeal the decision. The decision, if allowed to take effect, purports to “stay” the over two-decades-old approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of mifepristone during the litigation of the case. In their brief, the coalition of attorneys general warn that revoking federal approval of mifepristone would drastically reduce access to safe abortion care and miscarriage management for millions of people across the country, endangering lives and trampling states’ authority to protect and promote access to abortion.  

“In their newest attempt to eliminate access to abortion, right-wing extremists have set their targets on mifepristone – an abortion medication that, for the last 23 years, has proven safe and effective through decades of research and widespread usage,” said AG Campbell. “My colleagues and I will continue to fight to protect abortion access and use the full legal authority of our respective offices to uphold individuals’ essential and constitutional right to reproductive healthcare.”

On April 7, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued a preliminary injunction staying the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, which happened in 2000. This ruling comes in a challenge brought by anti-abortion groups seeking to revoke the FDA’s approval of mifepristone. The court’s order does not take effect immediately, as the district court put its ruling on hold for seven days to give the federal government and the drug manufacturer an opportunity to appeal.

AG Campbell and the coalition are urging the appeals court to continue to stay the lower court’s unprecedented and legally erroneous decision pending the appeal, given the decades of clinical research and studies that have confirmed mifepristone’s safety and the critical role medication abortion plays in reproductive health care, particularly in low-income, underserved, and rural communities with limited access to other forms of abortion care.  

The coalition notes that if the lower court decision takes effect, it could drastically curtail abortion access for millions of Americans. According to current estimates, medication abortion accounts for over half, approximately 54 percent, of all abortions performed in the United States. Obstructing access to mifepristone would cause demand for procedural abortions to significantly increase, resulting in later and more risky procedures, and more complicated and costly logistics for many patients, especially those where procedural abortion is unavailable. Moreover, lack of access to safe abortion care leads to worsened health outcomes and higher mortality, especially for Black women. 

Within her first few weeks in office, AG Campbell launched a confidential abortion legal advice hotline in partnership with Reproductive Equity Now, Women’s Bar Foundation, and the ACLU of Massachusetts. It serves as a free, confidential resource for anyone seeking to provide or receive abortion care in Massachusetts. Those with questions about abortion care, including medication abortion, are encouraged to contact the hotline at 833-309-6301.

Joining Attorney General Campbell in filing today’s amicus brief are the attorneys general of New York, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.

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