22 Attorneys General Urge FDA To Reverse Abortion Pill Decision

A group of 22 attorneys general wrote to Dr. Robert Califf, Federal Drug Administration (FDA), asking him to reverse his decision to allow retail pharmacies to dispense abortion pills.

The Friday letter, led by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, argued that The distribution of abortion-inducing drugs poses a danger to women’s health.

“The Food and Drug Administration’s decision to abandon commonsense restrictions on remotely prescribing and administering abortion-inducing drugs is both illegal and dangerous,” the letter read. “In direct contravention of longstanding FDA practice and congressional mandate, the FDA’s rollback of important safety restrictions ignores both women’s health and straightforward federal statutes. We urge you to reverse your decision.”

The letter’s signers also argued that the FDA’s decision would not stop them from enforcing state laws against administering abortion pills.

“Though the FDA has abdicated its responsibility to protect women’s health, we have not. To be crystal clear, you have not negated any of our laws that forbid the remote prescription, administration, and use of abortion-inducing drugs,” The attorneys general wrote.

Other than Alabama, other states included in the letter were Alaska, Arkansas and Florida, Georgia.

The Daily Wire, last week reported on Marshall’s comments that women could be prosecuted for taking abortion pills in Alabama. Marshall made the remarks despite the state’s Human Life Protection Act which criminalizes abortion providers and prevents prosecution against women who have abortions.

“The Human Life Protection Act targets abortion providers, exempting women ‘upon whom an abortion is performed or attempted to be performed’ from liability under the law,” Marshall stated that Marshall was a statement AL.com. “It does not provide an across-the-board exemption from all criminal laws, including the chemical-endangerment law—which the Alabama Supreme Court has affirmed and reaffirmed protects unborn children.”

Marshall and other leaders of state reacted after a recent update FDA announced that major pharmacy chains will be allowed to supply two medications, misoprostol (prescribed for medical abortions), through the FDA. CVS and Walgreens, the nation’s two largest pharmacy franchises, have since noted plans to participate in the new program from the FDA.

At most, the FDA will not allow for the change. 18 states That requires a physician who is authorized to perform a medication abortion to physically be present at the time that the drug is administered. Telemedicine is prohibited from prescribing abortion medication.

The medications used to induce abortions, Mifeprex and its generic Mifepristone Tablets, are approved by the FDA for up to 10 weeks gestation, as a woman’s health risk reportedly increases after that time.

“Though there are risks to a woman of using these drugs at any point in pregnancy, abortion-inducing drugs are riskiest when used later in pregnancy. This means that accurately determining the date of pregnancy is critical for women’s safety,” Marhsall’s letter from the attorneys general stated.