OLYMPIA, Wash. (ChurchMilitant) – Two states are taking measures to ensure the abortion pill continues to be manufactured and distributed even if the Food and Drug Administration is required to roll back its approval of the drug, pending a federal court battle.
Democratic Governor Jay Inslee
On Thursday, Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee of the state of Washington signed five bills intended to fortify abortion access. One of the new laws authorizes the state’s Department of Corrections to provide the abortion pill regardless of whether the recipient is in its custody.
On the same day, the Vermont Legislature passed pro-transgender and pro-abortion bills.
If signed into law, the state of Vermont would recognize so-called “reproductive health care services” to include “medication … approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for termination of a pregnancy as of January 1, 2023, regardless of the medication’s current FDA approval status.”
Abortion Pill in the Evergreen State
“Before I sign these bills, no state in the United States will be more protected, more vigilant and more successful in protecting women’s right of choice than the state of Washington,” boasted Governor Inslee at the signing of the bills.
State Sen. Karen Keiser
As he began to sign the first bill, those gathered laughed as he added, “This is also known as ‘keep Texas’ tentacles out of the state of Washington’ bill.”
“We are in such a volatile situation that states have to act to protect their own residents and as many people who come to our ‘safe haven,’ and that’s what we did,” touted Democratic State Sen. Karen Keiser, who sponsored the bill on mifepristone.
Lily Navarrete, a resident of the state who was present at the signing and who works at Planned Parenthood in Spokane, told reporters, “You’re safe here. Nobody has to dictate what you do with your body. It’s your choice. It’s your decision.”
Sara Dixit, also a resident who works at Planned Parenthood in Spokane, discussed abortion-minded visitors from Idaho, where abortion is illegal.
“More states are removing access and removing that right — people have to go somewhere. So we really want people to know that Washington state is somewhere that they can come to and receive the care with the dignity and respect that they deserve,” she stated.
Abortion Pill in the Green Mountain State
Drug companies will be prohibited from marketing the abortion pill, mifepristone, if the FDA is required to withdraw its approval, according to Democratic State Sen. Virginia Lyons.
“But production can still take place and they can be purchased for use by pharmacists or providers,” she stated. “So it’s still available but what this [bill] does is it says, with or without FDA approval, this drug is available to folks in the state of Vermont.”
Republican Gov. Phil Scott is expected to sign both bills into law.
Federal Court Battle
In an order on April 21, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with the FDA, issuing a temporary order to keep the abortion pill on the market as a federal battle over the FDA’s approval of the drug continues.
In the Northern District of Texas on April 7, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk withdrew the FDA’s approval of the abortion pill. Kacsmaryk argued the “FDA acquiesced on its legitimate safety concerns — in violation of its statutory duty — based on plainly unsound reasoning and studies that did not support its conclusions.”
That same day, in the Eastern District of Washington state, U.S. District Judge Thomas Rice ruled that the federal government must keep the abortion pill available in 17 states and the District of Columbia.
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The question of the FDA’s approval of mifepristone came before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ordered the FDA to restore safeguards it had jettisoned in 2016.
The order included a cessation of all mail-order abortions, a lowering of the gestational age of the child being terminated to seven weeks, a restoration of the requirement to visit a doctor and a rule for abortionists to examine mothers after they take the abortion pill.
The Supreme Court’s temporary order could terminate on the final disposition of the case in the 5th Circuit.