LAS VEGAS, NV – Late Friday afternoon, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a ruling to freeze a lower court opinion that would have restricted access to the drug Mifepristone, a common pill form of medication-induced abortion.
Annette Magnus, Executive Director of Battle Born Progress, issued the following statement:
“For once, the Supreme Court of the United States made the responsible decision to protect access to medication abortion and reproductive freedom of millions around the country. It is egregious that it even came to this point, thanks to anti-abortion extremists launching a full scale legal attack on the right to bodily autonomy. The FDA’s approval of this drug happened years ago, and there was no legitimate reason that a single federal judges ruling should’ve overturned access for the entire nation. We condemn Justices Alito and Thomas, who shamefully dissented in today’s opinion. The former authored the opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade altogether last year, and the latter who just last week has been revealed to be accepting numerous gifts from a billionaire far right-wing donor, Harlan Crow. Both are out of touch with regular Americans, unfit to serve, and are each a stain on the credibility of the nation’s highest court.”
“Let us be clear, this latest attempt to undermine access to mifepristone and access to abortion at-large would have caused disproportionate harm to people of color who are seeking a safe, low cost and accessible form of medication abortion. The original Texas case should have never moved forward, and it was not based on facts, science, or medicine, nor does the law support it. For decades, anti-abortion politicians have worked to confirm judges who share their ideology to make decisions. Judicial decisions should be based on facts, evidence, precedence, and law.”
“However, this decision does not mean that the fight to protect access to abortion is over. While the debate rages on at the national level, Nevada is lucky to be a leader in abortion access and has championed affordable and accessible healthcare for all Nevadans. We commend Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro for being ahead on this issue by working on Senate Bill 131, which will ensure people and doctors are not prosecuted for seeking abortion care in Nevada, as well as Senate Joint Resolution 7, to give Nevada voters a chance to further enshrine abortion rights and reproductive freedom into the Nevada Constitution. We need more leaders like Majority Leader Cannizzaro, who are planning and working to safeguard abortion care for future generations in light of continued attacks by extremist groups and judges around the country.”
ABOUT Medication Abortion: Over half of all abortions are done with medication and extremists cannot stand this. Mifepristone is the first medication in a two-medication regimen that has been used safely and effectively by millions of people over the past 22+ years for early abortion care and miscarriage management. If clinics and providers lose access to mifepristone, there is a protocol for medication abortion using misoprostol only. This protocol has been used around the world well before the FDA approval of mifepristone
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About Battle Born Progress: Battle Born Progress, through strategic communication efforts, empowers, engages and mobilizes Nevada voters to build a state where everyone has a fair opportunity to succeed. We support, engage, and mobilize the progressive community through bold leadership, strategic communications, accountability, and education. We are on the cutting edge of new media and are the go-to source for progressive issues and advocacy for traditional media. Learn more at https://battlebornprogress.org/.