SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — Medication abortion accounts for 54% of all abortions performed in the United States. Now, nearly half of the country's Attorneys General are demanding the U.S. Court of appeals suspend a Texas court's ruling that blocked access to mifepristone.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul joined the coalition of Attorneys General that filed an amicus brief Monday concerning the single judge's ruling on April 7. An amicus brief is a legal document sent to a court containing advice.
The 24 Attorneys General are urging the U.S. Court of Appeals to suspend the controversial ruling that essentially cut off essential access to medication abortion.
"I am proud to join this coalition and continue our fight to protect access to medication abortion and the right of women to make their own reproductive health decisions," Raoul said Tuesday.
Illinois was one of 18 states that filed a lawsuit to preserve access to mifepristone prior to the Texas decision. A Washington federal judge issued an injunction preventing the FDA from reducing availability of medication in Illinois and the other states included in that suit.
Raoul explained the availability of this drug is critical for low-income, under-served, and rural communities where abortion procedures may not be available. He stressed that the Texas decision needs to be appealed to preserve continued access to safe legal abortion in Illinois and across the country.
Gov. JB Pritzker was asked about possible solutions during an unrelated speaking engagement Monday night. The Democratic leader told students at Harvard University that the federal government should take action. However, he stressed that Democrats must win elections to every level of office.
"If we win at the federal level, if we win the presidency and continue to control the presidency and win the Congress, we can prevent things like Mifepristone from being made illegal by a judge because we get to appoint the judges," Pritzker said. "How do we address protecting a woman's right to choose? Let's pass a federal law that protects a woman's right to choose."
The Attorneys General argue that medication abortion is safe, effective, and indispensable to reproductive health care. The coalition stated that many people will be denied access to abortion or be forced to carry unwanted pregnancies to term without mifepristone.
"Because carrying a pregnancy to term is 14 times more risky than early abortion, curtailing access to medication abortion would likely lead to a steep rise in birth-related mortality rates, worsening a crisis already disproportionately faced by Black women," the coalition wrote.
Raoul also said eliminating or drastically reducing medication abortion would leave providers struggling to meet the spike in demand for abortion procedures for Illinois residents and people traveling to the state.
"In finding that nationwide preliminary relief was in the public interest, the district court ignored the considerable harms identified by amici states, the federal government, medical practitioners, and others," the coalition stated. "Instead the district court elevated the policy preferences of plaintiffs and states that have banned or restricted abortion, opining that the FDA's approval of mifepristone has harmed some 'states' efforts to regulate chemical abortion.'"
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