D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb is one of 24 attorneys general nationwide who doesn’t support a Texas court ruling that could affect access to the most commonly used method of abortion.
He joined a coalition of Democratic attorneys general in filing an amicus brief to stop a court ruling restricting access to the abortion pill mifepristone, saying lives could be endangered if the pill becomes unavailable.
Access to the drug plunged into uncertainty last week following conflicting court rulings over the legality of the abortion medication, which has been widely available for more than 20 years.
The group wants the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to stop, pending appeal, a district court ruling that would suspend the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone “more than two decades after the drug was originally approved,” a news release from Schwalb’s office said.
“Revoking federal approval for mifepristone will drastically reduce access to safe abortion care and miscarriage management for millions of people across the country, endanger lives, and trample states’ authority to protect and promote access to abortion,” Scwalb’s office said, adding that it will “jeopardize the health of millions of Americans.”
Following a Texas court ruling to suspend the FDA’s longtime approval of mifepristone, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown said the decision was “an attack on reproductive freedom.”
The D.C. Attorney General’s Office said it is committed to “protecting reproductive freedom in the District of Columbia and nationwide. As of today, abortion care — including medication abortion — remains legal and available in DC, and we’ll continue fighting to keep it that way.”
Schwalb is joined by counterparts in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.
