Reactions to US Supreme Court ruling to preserve access to abortion pill
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a bid by anti-abortion groups and doctors to restrict access to the abortion pill, handing a victory on Thursday to President Joe Biden's administration in its efforts to preserve broad access to the drug.
The justices, two years after ending the recognition of a constitutional right to abortion, ruled 9-0 to overturn a lower court's decision to roll back Food and Drug Administration steps in 2016 and 2021 that eased how the drug, called mifepristone, is prescribed and distributed.
Here is reaction to the ruling:
US PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN
"Attacks on medication abortion are part of Republican elected officials’ extreme and dangerous agenda to ban abortion nationwide. Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Republican elected officials have imposed extreme abortion bans in 21 states, some of which include zero exceptions for rape or incest ... The stakes could not be higher for women across America."
SBA PRO-LIFE AMERICA PRESIDENT MARJORIE DANNENFELSER
"The pro-life safety net stands ready to serve women facing unexpected pregnancies, as well as those hurt by abortion, and save babies' lives ... The stakes of elections are higher than ever for unborn children and their mothers. Americans do not support the Democrats' agenda and it is imperative to defeat them this November."
DEMOCRATIC US SENATOR PATTY MURRAY
"For now, mifepristone remains accessible where abortion is legal, but Americans need to understand that the nationwide threat to medication abortion has not gone away — far from it. If Donald Trump and his anti-abortion allies return to power, they will do everything they can to rip away access to mifepristone and ban abortion nationwide — they’re already revealing their plans to do just that."
ALLIANCE DEFENDING FREEDOM SENIOR COUNSEL ERIN HAWLEY
"The decision, based on a legal technicality, allows the FDA to continue its reckless disregard for women's health at least for now ... We are very hopeful that the federal courts will have a chance to hold the FDA accountable for its unlawful actions and removing these longstanding safeguards for women."
NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH INTERIM PRESIDENT HAYDEE MORALES
"This case should never have made it to the Supreme Court in the first place. Anti-abortion operatives brought this case with one goal in mind – to ban medication abortion and they failed. This case was a near miss for the science and medicine community and it won’t be the last attack."
NATIONAL LATINA INSTITUTE FOR REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR LUPE RODRIGUEZ
"While we are relieved that the Supreme Court saw through the politics and lies about mifepristone, an incredibly safe and effective FDA-approved medication used in medication abortion care, this case should never have made it this far. We know that these attacks on abortion care will only continue."
(Reporting by Gabriella Borter, Nandita Bose and Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Scott Malone and Lisa Shumaker)
