Lt. Gov. Bysiewicz, Health & Elected Officials Speak On Mifepristone In Stamford

STAMFORD, CT — Following the Supreme Court's decision last Friday to preserve women's access to mifepristone, the most commonly used drug for abortions, Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz visited Stamford Health on Tuesday to discuss reproductive health care and to reiterate the drug is still available without restriction in Connecticut.

Bysiewicz was joined by Stamford Health leaders, Mayor Caroline Simmons, and other local elected officials for a brief news conference outside the Wheeler Building on the Stamford Health campus.

"We can take a breath for a little while. There's relief to know that mifepristone will continue to be available, but we knew that when Roe was overturned that this was just the beginning," Bysiewicz said, adding that women's rights and access to essential health care have been attacked.

Bysiewicz noted that if the court does overturn the FDA approval of the drug, it would set a "very dangerous" precedent.

"What will be next? Will the safe use of insulin be overturned? Will the COVID vaccine approvals be overturned? Will Alzheimer's medication approvals be overturned?" Bysiewicz asked.

"We want the people of Connecticut, the women of Connecticut, to know that we will continue to make sure that lifesaving health care is available in our state," she added. "To women across the country who may live in a state where abortion is now illegal, know that you can come to our state and receive that care. We welcome you."

Mifepristone has been approved for use in the United States since 2000. More than 5 million people have used the drug in the U.S., which is used in combination with a second drug, misoprostol, in more than half of all abortions in the country.

The medication can be administered at up to 10 weeks of pregnancy without any in-person visit to a clinic or to a hospital, Bysiewicz said. It can be obtained through the mail, via pharmacy or by a doctor's prescription.

Dr. Siobhan Dolan, chair of obstetrics and gynecology at Stamford Health, said the risk of death associated with abortion is .3 out of 100,000 abortions that occur up to eight weeks, and 6.7 out of 100,000 abortions that occur at 18 weeks or later.

"The notion of safety is not an opinion. There's data, there's facts. We know that mifepristone and misoprostol for medication abortion, or surgical for that matter, are safe and effective," Dolan said.

Restrictions on a state-by-state basis only worsen disparities with access to care, Dolan said, noting that Black women face a maternal mortality rate that's three times that of white women.

"Abortion is essential health care. Period. End of sentence," Dolan said. "We here are deeply committed to providing that care through our outstanding obstetric and gynecologic services."

Stamford Health President and CEO Kathy Silard said the health care organization will stay abreast of the latest developments around mifepristone to prepare for the possibility that FDA approval will get rolled back in the future.

If that happens, Stamford Health would look for alternatives and work with legislators, legal advisors and medical professionals.

"Obviously we are not going to break the law, but we will continue to be champions for women's rights and access to the right kinds of drugs," Silard said.

Dolan explained that misoprostol doesn't work quite as well by itself.

"We would still continue to offer that," she said. "We'd continue to provide medication abortion services, but we would like to always offer the medication regimen that is the most effective."

Several elected officials, including Simmons, state Reps. Corey Paris (D-145); Hubert Delany (D-144); Rachel Khanna (D-149); and state Sen. Ceci Maher (D-26), gave brief remarks on Tuesday, thanking Stamford Health for their services and pledging to defend health care rights for all.

"Reproductive health is about women's health, it's about family health, it's about maternal and infant care and health, and it's about the ability of women to have control over their own bodies and to make these sacred personal decisions with their doctors throughout the course of their pregnancies," Simmons said.

Paris said that if there were any issues with men making decisions about what to do with [their bodies], "we wouldn't need the Supreme Court to fill in to defend them on that."

"We need to ensure that we are protecting a woman's right to choose what to do in a very autonomous way with her body and with her reproductive health," Paris added. "I think at the end of the day we need to remember that this is a decision that should be left to a woman and her doctor, and the best way I can tell you is if you don't like abortions, don't have one."