Hickenlooper, 250+ Lawmakers File Amicus Brief in Supreme Court Fight to Protect Mifepristone Access, Women’s Health Care

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper and more than 250 Senate and House Democrats filed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court on Monday urging them to overturn a Fifth Circuit decision that would upend the FDA approval process and restrict access to mifepristone. This brief follows emergency appeals from the manufacturers of mifepristone, the Supreme Court issuing a temporary stay of the decision Monday morning until next Monday, May 11, and the announcement that the Court has ordered a briefing on the stay by this Thursday, May 7.

"We won't let this stand," Hickenlooper wrote on social media after the Fifth Circuit decision. "Mifepristone is safe and FDA approved. This decision would impact women across the country, even in states where we've protected abortion access."

After the Supreme Court issued a temporary stay, Hickenlooper wrote on social media: "Women deserve the right to make their own health care decisions. We'll fight any attempt to restrict reproductive freedom at every turn."

In their amicus brief, the lawmakers argued that mifepristone already undergoes a rigorous FDA approval process, and the medication has repeatedly been found to be safe and effective. For a court to overturn this decision not only limits who is able to receive this vital and life-saving medication, putting lives at risk, but it also undermines the longstanding, congressionally mandated, and evidence-based decision-making process at the FDA.

"For more than a quarter century, FDA has repeatedly and consistently affirmed that mifepristone is safe. Over seven million patients in the U.S. have safely used mifepristone. And as with other drugs, FDA continues to monitor the post-marketing safety data on mifepristone-data confirming that mifepristone is safe without regard to how it is dispensed," the lawmakers wrote.

The lawmakers concluded: "Preserving evidence-based access to mifepristone, including when dispensed by mail or retail pharmacy, is necessary to mitigate the imminent harm facing members of the public. Women deserve access to mifepristone for reproductive health care, and all Americans deserve integrity in the congressionally mandated, evidence-based process for FDA's drug regulatory decisions."

Hickenlooper has been a vocal supporter of reproductive freedom and access to medication, including mifepristone. Hickenlooper, along with 26 Senate colleagues, introduced the Stop Comstock Act to protect access to medication abortions like Mifepristone. Specifically, the legislation would repeal the outdated Comstock Act of 1873, which anti-choice extremists have threatened to invoke to effectively end access to medication abortion without a single act of Congress.

In the Senate, the amicus brief was signed by all 47 Democratic U.S. Senators. In the House, the brief was signed by 212 Democratic U.S. Representatives. The lawmakers' amicus brief to the Supreme Court can be read in full HERE.

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