Michigan officials release statements as U.S. Supreme Court hears abortion pill case
(CBS DETROIT) - Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel released statements as the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments in a case involving a commonly used abortion pill Tuesday.
The case involved the FDA-approved pill, mifepristone, which is taken alongside another drug, misoprostol, for medication abortion.
Mifepristone was approved in 2000 and is used for more than half of all the abortions that took place in the U.S., and this ruling could restrict access to medication abortion.
The FDA has recently taken steps to allow mifepristone to be taken up to 10 weeks into pregnancy instead of seven weeks. In addition, people can get the pill without an in-person doctor's visit due to the recent changes. Anti-abortion rights doctors claim that the FDA violated the law when they made these changes.
Whitmer released the following statement as the Supreme Court began hearing arguments in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA:
"This case is an attempt to force the FDA to withdraw its decades-long approval of mifepristone, a safe, commonly used, and often prescribed medication for abortion," said Whitmer.
"If the anti-reproductive freedom majority on SCOTUS bans mifepristone, or reimposes medically unnecessary restrictions on its use, it will impede access to the most commonly used method of abortion for every woman in America. Even in states where abortion rights are protected like Michigan, the decision would severely limit people's right to make one of the most important decisions about their family in consultation with their doctor.
"Amid a nationwide assault on our reproductive health, today's case is yet another attempt by partisan, out-of-touch extremists to strip away our freedoms. They think they have found a sympathetic audience in the same Supreme Court that repealed Roe, leaving more than a third of U.S. women living in states with abortion bans. We've worked hard to ensure that's not the case in Michigan. We will watch this case closely and keep fighting like hell."
In addition, Nessel released the following statement:
"Donald Trump and his MAGA allies will stop at nothing to ban abortion and restrict reproductive health care access nationwide," said Nessel. "We can't forget that Trump appointed the judge who ruled to ban abortion medication and nominated the justices who cast the deciding votes to overturn Roe v. Wade – and he's promising a national abortion ban if he's reelected. In 2022, Michiganders overwhelmingly supported abortion access, enshrining the right to reproductive freedom in our constitution, but Donald Trump could wipe away that progress and rip away our reproductive rights here in Michigan."
"I'm committed to working with the Biden-Harris administration to protect our rights and freedoms while Donald Trump once again puts them on the chopping block. Make no mistake: reproductive health care is on the ballot again this November."
