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Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, DC Responds to Federal Mifepristone Cases in Texas and Washington

Contact: McKinley Seale, (202) 641-5497, [email protected]

For Immediate Release: April 11, 2023


For Now, Mifepristone Approval is STILL Protected

 

Washington, DC — Friday, a federal judge in Texas handed down an unprecedented decision to block the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of mifepristone - one of two medications used in the most common abortion regimen in the United States. The FDA approved Mifepristone 23 years ago based on safe and effective clinical outcomes. There is no medical basis for this claim. 

Statement from Dr. Laura Meyers, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington:

“This decision was tailor-made by anti-abortion activists and opens Pandora's box for bogus attacks on health care based on politics, not science.  This decision sets a dangerous precedent for nefarious groups to target other medications and FDA rulings without grounds in clinical outcomes,”

The Texas judge also stayed the decision to give the federal government seven days to seek relief on appeal, which means that for now, approval of mifepristone remains protected in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia.

In a separate ruling on Friday night, a federal judge in Washington state issued a preliminary injunction in a mifepristone case brought by 18 Attorneys General, including Brian L. Schwalb (Washington, DC) and Anthony G. Brown (MD).

The Texas ruling could severely undermine access to abortion in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. Anti-abortion activists are not satisfied with overturning Roe v. Wade or allowing states to ban abortion — they want to strip patients in these jurisdictions and people nationwide of their rights. 

We are grateful to D.C.  Attorney General Brian Schwalb and Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown for joining a case that won its preliminary injunction on Friday. While access remains protected for now, Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington will continue to do everything possible to provide patients with timely abortion care, including the method that is best for their circumstances.

Learn more about medication abortion here. For more information about options and a state-by-state guide to get care, go to AbortionFinder.org or call 1-800-230-PLAN.

PPMW’s mission is to provide high quality, affordable reproductive health care; promote education programs that empower all individuals to make informed and responsible reproductive choices; and to protect the right to make those choices. PPMW is the oldest and largest provider of family planning services in Metropolitan Washington, serving DC, Maryland and Northern Virginia.

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