Colorado Democrats Urge Court To Maintain Access To Abortion Pill During Appeal

By Lindsey Toomer, Colorado Newsline

April 11, 2023

Democratic elected officials in Colorado are taking steps to ensure Colorado will continue to provide access to mifepristone for medication abortions following two conflicting federal court rulings on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the drug.

It’s unclear whether a Texas judge’s ruling last week to revoke FDA approval of mifepristone will take effect on Friday as initially ordered, following a contradicting ruling from a court in Washington state and an appeal from the U.S. Department of Justice. The Washington ruling said the FDA cannot change how it regulates mifepristone in 17 states, including Colorado, and the District of Columbia, whose attorneys general filed a lawsuit there.

“The bottom line of that decision is that mifepristone will remain available in Colorado while our case moves forward,” Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said in a statement. “Attacks on reproductive freedom will continue, and we will be vigilant in the fight for the right to access mifepristone and safe and legal abortion care in Colorado.”

Several amicus briefs filed with the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals seek an administrative stay — a pause on the ruling taking effect. The briefs came from congressional leaders and attorneys general from the states seeking to protect access to mifepristone.

Weiser, representing Colorado, joined a brief with 22 other states and the District of Columbia seeking a stay and warning about the consequences that revoking mifepristone’s approval would have for women in need of access to abortion care and miscarriage management. The coalition asks the appeals court to continue pausing the implementation of the Texas judge’s ruling until the appeal goes through.

“This ruling cannot stand. We must continue to work to ensure that once again every person has the right to make independent decisions about their own bodies and health."

– Phil Weiser, Colorado attorney general

“The ruling in Alliance of Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration is yet another flagrant attempt to deny women the right to make decisions about their own reproductive health care,” Weiser said in a statement, referring to the case that was before Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas. “Revoking the FDA’s approval of mifepristone despite the overwhelming clinical and research-based evidence establishing mifepristone’s safety and efficacy is unprecedented and will put the lives of countless women at serious risk.”

“This ruling cannot stand. We must continue to work to ensure that once again every person has the right to make independent decisions about their own bodies and health,” Weiser continued. “I will continue to fight for the right to access safe and effective abortion care.”

Weiser was joined on the brief by the attorneys general from Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.

Patient access in jeopardy

U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, a Denver Democrat who chairs the House of Representative’s Pro-Choice Caucus, helped lead a group of 240 members of Congress in filing a separate amicus brief with the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, also urging the court to stay the Texas court’s decision and prevent it from taking effect. DeGette led the brief supporting the Biden administration’s appeal of Kacsmaryk’s ruling alongside Democratic U.S. Reps. Hakeem Jeffries and Jerry Nadler of New York, Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, Frank Pallone of New Jersey, Barbara Lee of California, and Sens. Chuck Schumer of New York, Patty Murray of Washington, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.

The brief from members of Congress says the Texas district court ruling puts in jeopardy patient access to other medications that go through the congressionally mandated FDA approval process. "The ruling would not only threaten women’s access to the most common form of abortion, but undermines the FDA’s authority," the brief argues.

“FDA’s determination that mifepristone is safe and effective is based on a thorough and comprehensive review process prescribed and overseen by the legislative branch,” the brief reads. “FDA’s process and conclusions have been validated by both Congress and the Government Accountability Office — and by the lived experience of over 5 million patients who have used the drug in the United States.”

Other Colorado Democrats who signed the brief include Reps. Yadira Caraveo of Thornton, Jason Crow of Centennial, Joe Neguse of Lafayette and Brittany Pettersen of Lakewood, along with U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper.

The FDA initially approved mifepristone in 2000. The drug is used to treat miscarriages and perform abortions along with a second drug, misoprostol, which is not threatened by any of the court rulings.

A statement from the FDA reaffirmed its approval of the drug, saying “patients should have access to FDA-approved medications that FDA has determined to be safe and effective for their intended uses.”

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