While 67 percent of Americans support medication abortion, today mifepristone’s FDA approval may be decided by the Supreme Court – which is packed with Donald Trump’s handpicked anti-abortion justices. Trump judges are actively taking rights away from Americans all over the country and the Republican Party is fully responsible for the health care crisis they’ve created.
Ahead of today’s likely decision on medication abortion from the Supreme Court, former Planned Parenthood President and Co-Chair of American Bridge 21st Century joined MSNBC’s Joy Reid, Andrea Mitchell, and Nicolle Wallace as well as ABC’s Kyra Phillips to discuss the upcoming ruling and the potential impact of banning mifepristone.
A broad swath of groups and leaders are all in lockstep speaking out against this decision to revoke mifepristone’s FDA approval – including pharmaceutical companies, medical experts, and former FDA officials. Yesterday, the president of the American Medical Association came out with an op-ed in the New York Times writing: “We simply cannot be a country where your access to the care you need is determined by the whims of ideologically driven judges and lawmakers without medical or scientific training.”
“The fact that the Supreme Court is even delaying this is worrisome to me, because this is a case that never should have been brought,” said Cecile Richards, co-chair of American Bridge 21st Century. “There is absolutely no health care reason to end access to mifepristone. As you’ve said, this is a drug that was approved decades ago. It’s been safely used. It’s the most commonly used form of medication to terminate pregnancy. And the fact that we’re even having this discussion is absolutely insane… Just like Dobbs was something we’ve never seen a constitutional right taken away by the Supreme Court, we’ve never had a federal judge say he knows better than the entire medical establishment, including the FDA, about the safety and efficacy of a drug.”
When discussing the recent op-ed by the President of the American Medical Association slamming the decision to revoke FDA approval from mifepristone, Cecile Richards co-chair of American Bridge 21st Century said:
“It’s not just the AMA, a dozen medical organizations [are] saying this is completely irresponsible.”
“I feel like we’re on every week waiting for the Supreme Court to tell us what rights we have left as women,” said Cecile Richards, co-chair of American Bridge 21st Century. “And it’s just … incredible. Obviously, it’s disturbing that we haven’t already heard from the court because this case should have never even been heard.”
“It’s been approved for over 20 years,” said Cecile Richards, co-chair of American Bridge 21st Century. “It is safer than Tylenol. So the the position taken by the plaintiffs is ridiculous. It never would have been heard in any other federal court. And I really hope that on behalf of American women, the Supreme Court does the right thing today and throws this out.”
Published: Apr 18, 2023 | Last Modified: May 3, 2023