Democratic governors stockpile abortion pill after Texas judge ruling
Jack Birle
Video Embed
Govs. Maura Healey (D-MA) and Gavin Newsom (D-CA) announced plans Monday to stockpile the abortion pill mifepristone after a federal judge ordered the Food and Drug Administration to suspend its approval of the pill on Friday.
Healey announced her state was purchasing 15,000 doses, while Newsom said his state was purchasing up to 2 million pills for its stockpiles.
NANCY MACE URGES BIDEN TO IGNORE RULING TO SUSPEND ABORTION PILL’S FDA APPROVAL
“Before the ruling, I asked [the University of Massachusetts] to purchase 15,000 doses of mifepristone. That’s over a year’s worth of doses that we expect to have in hand this week. We’ve also been in touch with other health care providers ordering additional quantities to make available for patients,” Healey tweeted on Monday.
Healey also announced an executive order protecting the pill within the commonwealth of Massachusetts.
“I’m also issuing an Executive Order that makes sure medication abortion, including mifepristone, is protected under the laws passed in the wake of Dobbs. The Shield Law continues to protect providers who stock and dispense mifepristone, and patients who access this vital care,” she said in a follow-up tweet.
Newsom called the action a response to an “extremist ban,” saying the state will “not cave to extremists.”
“In response to this extremist ban on a medication abortion drug, our state has secured a stockpile of an alternative medication abortion drug to ensure that Californians continue to have access to safe reproductive health treatments. We will not cave to extremists who are trying to outlaw these critical abortion services. Medication abortion remains legal in California,” Newsom said in a statement.
A federal judge in Texas ordered that FDA approval of mifepristone be halted on Friday, which will effectively ban the sale of the abortion pill. The court-ordered halt will not go into effect for a week.
The Biden administration has appealed the ruling, arguing the decision “overturns the FDA’s expert judgment” and setting the stage for a lengthy legal battle over the pill.
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra asserted that “everything is on the table” after the decision, even refusing to rule out the FDA ignoring the court’s order.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Several politicians have called for the FDA to ignore the court order, including Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), along with Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Nancy Mace (R-SC).
The ruling by a federal judge in Texas is already facing legal pushback after a Washington federal judge issued a ruling 20 minutes later that contradicted the one in Texas. The Justice Department has asked the federal judge in Washington state to clarify its ruling. The decisions were released 20 minutes apart from each other.