Brief filed against FDA mail-order abortion regime
Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch has filed an amicus brief along with 20 other Attorneys General urging the Supreme Court of the United States to reject the FDA’s attempt to push a national mail-order abortion regime in violation of federal law, of state laws, and of the Court’s Dobbs opinion.
“In Dobbs, the Supreme Court established that the right to regulate abortion belongs to the people. The Biden Administration’s shameless efforts to skirt federal and state laws with a national mail-order abortion regime flouts the Court’s ruling and the rights of the people, and puts women’s health in jeopardy,” said Attorney General Lynn Fitch. “We encourage the Court to uphold its precedent that protects both the health of women and democracy and deny this request for emergency relief.
In the brief, the Attorneys General write, “The day Dobbs was decided, President Biden directed his Administration to ensure that abortion drugs are ‘as widely accessible as possible,’ including ‘through telehealth and sent by mail.’”
The Attorneys General argue that FDA’s efforts to impose a mail-order elective-abortion regime disregards the protections for life, health, and safety adopted by numerous States’ elected representatives.
The Attorneys General continue, “The Administration claims that it has the power to make abortion drugs broadly accessible despite contrary determinations by States and despite laws that States have enacted to protect life, health, and safety in the use of those drugs….That claim is wrong.”
The Attorneys General conclude, “Given the absence of authority for the FDA to establish a mail-order abortion regime—and States’ retained authority to act, the public interest strongly weighs against the FDA’s effort to override duly enacted state laws. This too supports denying emergency relief.”
Attorneys General from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming joined Attorney General Lynn Fitch on this brief.
