The Quickie: AMA President: Mifepristone Case Is "Brazen Attack on Americans' Health"

Welcome to “The Quickie” — Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s daily tipsheet on the top health care & reproductive rights stories of the day. You can read “The Quickie'' online here.

In today’s Quickie: AMA president criticizes mifepristone case, mifepristone access extended until weekend, more anti-abortion politician hypocrisy, and abortion and LGBTQ+ constitutional amendment proposed in OR. 

AMA PRES: MIFEPRISTONE CASE IS “ONE OF THE MOST BRAZEN ATTACKS ON AMERICANS’ HEALTH”: The mifepristone federal court case that is before the Supreme Court is about much more than one medication, says the President of the American Medical Association (AMA) Dr. Jack Resneck Jr. in a new op-ed in the New York Times opposing the “brazen” attacks on mifepristone in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA:

“In their zeal to continue upending abortion access after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, legislators, activists and litigants have pushed increasingly extreme measures that disregard medical science, insert government into the exam room and increase the odds of maternal deaths,” Dr. Resneck begins. 

He also highlights that upholding any part of the lower courts’ decisions would seriously jeopardize the FDA’s regulatory regime and open up challenges to any politicized medicine, such as vaccines, hormonal birth control, emergency contraception, drugs used to treat cancer and arthritis that may incidentally affect pregnancies, drugs used to prevent and treat HIV, and gender-affirming care medications. 

“We cannot allow pseudoscience and speculation to override the substantial weight of scientific evidence from more than 100 studies and millions of patients that confirm the safety and efficacy of a drug or course of treatment,” Dr. Resneck writes. “The legal challenge to mifepristone threatens grave harm to our patients, public health and the shared decision-making at the core of the physician-patient relationship.”

Read the full op-ed here.

STATUS QUO MIFEPRISTONE ACCESS EXTENDED UNTIL WEEKEND: Yesterday afternoon the Supreme Court extended its administrative stay of the lower courts’ decisions in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA until Friday at 11:59:59 PM ET. This means status quo access to mifepristone remains until at least the weekend.

In other mifepristone-related news, yesterday, GenBioPro — the manufacturer of the generic version of mifepristone — filed a federal lawsuit against the FDA to preserve access to the generic mifepristone drug whose FDA approval would be blocked if the 5th Circuit decision is allowed to take effect.  

Read more about SCOTUS’s ruling at CNN and read more about GenBioPro’s lawsuit at NPR. 

ANTI-ABORTION HYPOCRISY: Today, the Kansas City Star’s Daniel Descrochers covered the intellectual dishonesty of politicians claiming to want abortion rights to be left to the states then using the courts to restrict access to abortion nationwide. Gabby Richards, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Action Fund, exposed the truth: 

“This is just another piece of the puzzle for anti-abortion politicians, judges, the movement, to achieve their ultimate goal, which is to enact a national abortion ban.” 

These politicians continue to support their unpopular policies even as voters, including Kansans who overwhelmingly rejected an anti-abortion ballot referendum, make it clear they support access to legal abortion.These policies include national abortion bans, like the one introduced by Senator Lindsey Graham, as well as the ongoing case that threatens access to mifepristone nationwide.  

“While Kansans made it clear last August that their health care decisions should be between them and their doctor, not politicians, this new ruling threatens to restrict access to reproductive health care nation-wide,” Rep. Sharice Davids, a Kansas Democrat, said of the mifepristone case.

Read more from the Kansas City Star here.  

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT PROTECTING REPRODUCTIVE, LGBTQ+ RIGHTS PROPOSED IN OREGON: Lawmakers in Oregon are advancing SJR 33, a legislative-referred constitutional amendment to protect abortion rights, marriage equality, and gender-affirming care. The amendment would also repeal language in the state’s constitution defining marriage as between “one man” and “one woman.” While Oregon has laws protecting reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights, SJR33 would proactively protect and enshrine those rights in case of future legislative changes, making the state one of the most protective in the country of abortion rights and LGBTQ+ equality. If approved, voters would vote on the amendment in the next general election. 

“We’re committed to do whatever it takes to stop the coordinated attacks on our fundamental right to marry who we love and access a full range of health care including contraception, abortion and gender-affirming care,” said Jennifer Williamson, interim executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon. “We refuse to take our freedoms for granted. We’re here to fight back.”

Read more at Oregon Capital Chronicle and OPB.