Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
States Turn Up Their Efforts To Overturn FDA's Abortion Pill Approval
Anchorage Daily News: Alaska Joins Federal Lawsuit Seeking To Block Abortion Pill
The state of Alaska joined a federal lawsuit Friday that seeks to overturn the Food and Drug Administration’s decades-old approval of a pill used for abortions. The lawsuit was filed in a Texas federal court in November by the anti-abortion group Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine. It seeks to revoke the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, which is commonly used in conjunction with misoprostol to induce abortions. (Maguire, 2/13)
Missouri Independent: Missouri Among 23 States Seeking To Block Abortion Pill
Attorneys general representing nearly two dozen Republican states are backing a lawsuit that would remove the abortion pill from throughout the United States after more than two decades, eliminating the option even in states where abortion access remains legal. The state of Missouri filed its own brief in the case Friday while Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch filed a brief on behalf of her state as well as Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming. (Shutt, 2/13)
Kansas City Star: KS AG Kobach, MO AG Bailey Urge Judge To Block Abortion Drug
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach and Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey are urging a federal judge to effectively ban medication abortion nationwide, a decision that would have a profound impact in Kansas, where pills are used to induce most abortions. (Shorman, 2/13)
In related abortion news —
AP: North Carolina AG Won't Defend Abortion Pill Restrictions
North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein won’t defend state restrictions on dispensing abortion pills that are being challenged in a lawsuit and instead will argue the restrictions are preempted by federal regulations protecting access to the pills, Stein’s office said Monday. The decision by Stein, a Democrat, means Republican legislative leaders who want to keep the restrictions would have to seek to formally intervene in the federal lawsuit, which was filed by Amy Bryant, a physician who prescribes the drug mifepristone. (Robertson, 2/14)
San Francisco Chronicle: What A Ban On Abortion Medication Would Mean For California
Lisa Matsubara, general counsel for Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, said misoprostol is an alternative to current two-drug abortions. “For the antiabortion folks, they are not going to be satisfied until abortion is banned nationwide,” Matsubara said. Some congressional Republicans have proposed such legislation, but the proposals, like Democratic-sponsored bills to legalize abortion nationwide, have little prospect of passage in a divided Congress. (Egelko, 2/13)
USA Today: Christian, Muslim And Jewish Leaders Fight For Abortion Rights
It's a somewhat familiar story: A group of religious leaders last month filed an abortion-related lawsuit. They argued their religious freedoms were being violated. But, instead of challenging abortion rights, they wanted to see an abortion ban overturned. The leaders are seeking to reverse Missouri's abortion ban, arguing lawmakers imposed their religious beliefs on others through passing it. (Fernando, 2/13)
Politico: ‘I Feel Like We’re Backing Up, Instead Of Moving Forward’
On Jan. 5, South Carolina became the first state to uphold a constitutional right to abortion since Roe v. Wade was overturned. Justice Kaye Hearn, the only woman on the state’s Supreme Court, wrote the majority opinion in the case, arguing that South Carolina’s constitution includes a right to privacy and “few decisions in life are more private than the decision whether to terminate a pregnancy.” The 3-2 decision struck down a 2021 ban on abortions after cardiac activity is detected — roughly six weeks into pregnancy. The ruling made national headlines for the rebuke it appeared to deliver to a Republican legislature in a deeply conservative state. (Rab, 2/14)
