A federal appeals court has been asked by 18 Republican states to overturn a ruling that says North Carolina’s law that limits the use of the abortion pill mifepristone is not legal.
The attorneys general of Iowa, Arkansas, and South Carolina led a group of red states on Monday as they sent a statement to the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in support of North Carolina’s law that limited access to mifepristone. This law was thrown out by a federal court in June.
The states agreed with North Carolina that healthcare policies have traditionally been the responsibility of the states and that each state has the power and duty to control access to medicine.
The lawyers for the states wrote, “Each amicus State has a sovereign interest in protecting its citizens and making sure its laws are not superseded by an overly broad and aggressive interpretation of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.”
Following the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in June 2022, which overturned Roe v. Wade, the states say they now have control over abortion laws.
The FDA first approved the abortion pill mifepristone in 2000. This year, the Supreme Court heard the first case about abortion problems since Dobbs, which brought the pill under scrutiny.
In that case, people who are against abortion said that the FDA didn’t have a good reason to loosen restrictions on mifepristone, mostly by letting doctors give the abortion pill without checking out the patient first.
The Supreme Court sided with the FDA, but only on a small point of law. This means that there could be more lawsuits in the future.
The Care Act in North Carolina says that only doctors can give mifepristone. To get FDA approval to prescribe the abortion pill, you do not need to get certification from the FDA.
In addition, the law required doctors to make in-person follow-up appointments and write prescriptions in person. It also required doctors to report non-fatal adverse events to the FDA, which is not something the public health office has to do.
According to the attorneys general for North Carolina, the state’s rules protecting unborn life, maternal health care, and the integrity of the medical field do not conflict with the FDA’s regulation of mifepristone. They wrote that the lower court’s decision should be overturned.
There is a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy and a black box warning for mifepristone from the FDA. A black box warning is the strongest safety warning that can be given to any drug.
The FDA warning signs on the abortion pill say that one in twenty-five women who take it will need emergency medical care for mifepristone complications, such as bleeding or sepsis.
The doctor who sued to question the North Carolina law, Dr. Amy Bryant’s lawyers say that the Care Act limits the FDA’s power to “reduce burdens on patient access and the healthcare system.”
As part of the careful review required by law of the Mifepristone REMS, the FDA has rejected the very limits North Carolina puts in place, Bryant’s lawyers wrote in a February brief to a federal district court.
Since Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), are still making abortion the main issue of their campaign, the heated fight over mifepristone is likely to continue to have an impact on the 2024 election.
Mifepristone is used in almost two-thirds of all abortions in the US.