In response to the Supreme Court’s decision today to take up the Fifth Circuit’s decision on mifepristone, a safe and effective abortion medication, DNC National Press Secretary Sarafina Chitika released the following statement: 

“Donald Trump rightfully takes credit for ‘killing’ Roe v. Wade — and now his party of extremists have been working to ban abortion in every state in America. If Trump’s Supreme Court majority decides to strip away access to mifepristone next year, it will be MAGA Republicans’ latest attack on freedom in their war on a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions. As anti-abortion extremists put obstacle after obstacle between women and the care they need, President Biden and Vice President Harris are fighting to protect the right to choose. In every election since the overturning of Roe, voters have sent a resounding message: they want more freedom, not less – and come 2024, Republicans will once again face the repercussions of their unrelenting crusade to strip away our rights.”

Donald Trump appointed the right-wing judges who have put access to mifepristone at risk for millions of women across the country.

NBC News: “In an unprecedented move, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk on Friday suspended the Food and Drug Administration’s longtime approval of key abortion pill mifepristone.”

CNBC: “Kacsmaryk, appointed to the federal bench by former President Donald Trump in 2019, previously worked for the Christian conservative legal group First Liberty Institute and has espoused socially conservative views on LGBTQ rights and abortion.”

NPR: “A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that mifepristone, one of two pills used in medication abortions, should not be prescribed past seven weeks of pregnancy or via telemedicine. … A three judge panel of the 5th Circuit heard arguments in the case in May. All three judges were appointed by Republicans. Two are Trump appointees, one was appointed by George W. Bush.”

During his time in office, Trump’s administration sought to bar federally funded clinics from referring patients to abortion providers and appealed a pandemic-era court order that allowed women to take mifepristone without visiting a doctor in person.

CNBC: “Trump administration asks Supreme Court to reinstate abortion pill restrictions judge has suspended due to coronavirus”

19th News: “The [Trump] administration is currently arguing that the Supreme Court undo a lower court order that allowed people in the pandemic to take mifepristone — a drug used as part of medication abortions — from home, without visiting a doctor in person. Appealing such a ruling straight to the Supreme Court and bypassing the appeals process was uncommon prior to Trump’s presidency, but has become a frequent strategy for the administration.”

NPR: “Supreme Court OKs White House Request To Limit Abortion Pill Access During Pandemic”

Kaiser Family Foundation: “On March 4, 2019, the Trump Administration published new final regulations that restores Reagan-era restrictions regarding abortion and Title X. The primary goal of these regulations is to block the availability of federal funds to family planning providers, such as Planned Parenthood, that also offer abortion services with non-Title X funds and to prohibit sites that receive Title X funds from referring pregnant patients to other providers for abortion services.”

Trump’s allies are plotting to effectively ban medication abortion nationwide and shut down clinics in all 50 states if he gets a second term in the White House. 

Project 2025: “FDA should… Reverse its approval of chemical abortion drugs because the politicized approval process was illegal from the start… Now that the Supreme Court has acknowledged that the Constitution contains no right to an abortion, the FDA is ethically and legally obliged to revisit and withdraw its initial approval, which was premised on pregnancy being an ‘illness’ and abortion being ‘therapeutically’ effective at treating this ‘illness.’ The FDA is statutorily charged with guaranteeing the safety and efficacy of drugs and therefore should withdraw this drug that is proven to be dangerous to women and by definition fatally unsafe for unborn children.”

Axios: “The Heritage Foundation, which has proposed detailed policies for a potential GOP administration, argues that Comstock ‘unambiguously prohibits mailing abortion drugs’ and says the next administration should ‘enforce federal law against providers and distributors of [abortion] pills.’”

The Atlantic: Their next goal will be ending legal abortion in America once and for all… Their ultimate aim in reviving the Comstock Act is to use it to shut down every abortion facility “in all 50 states…”

Ron DeSantis threatened criminal penalties against pharmacies that provide abortion medication.

Caroline Kitchener: “Florida medical providers got this note from Ron DeSantis yesterday. Basically: the FDA’s decision on abortion pills does not apply here. ‘Willfully violating… could result in criminal penalties.’”

Kimberly Leonard: “‘They’re not going to be offering that in the state of Florida,’ DeSantis says of pharmacy chains like CVS, Walgreens, and Publix offering patients medication abortion.”

FOX4: “Florida Department of Health warns pharmacists against sale of abortion pill”

The 2024 MAGA Republican presidential field has also cozied up with abortion extremists and anti-abortion groups like Alliance Defending Freedom, Susan B. Anthony List, and Bob Vander Plaats who are forcefully advocating for stripping away access to mifepristone. 

AP: “The leader of a major anti-abortion group met with former President Donald Trump on the issue, just weeks after raising questions about his commitment to restricting access to the procedure. Calling her meeting Monday with Trump ‘terrific,’ Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America group … told The Associated Press on Tuesday that she has been meeting with a number of declared and potential 2024 Republican presidential candidates and that it’s her job to work with them on abortion-related issues.’”

Axios: “The president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America told Axios on Friday that in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade, her group will work to restrict abortion ‘in every state and in every legislature, including the Congress.’ … Dannenfelser said she’s working with governors and state legislatures in dozens of states. As we spoke, she said she was getting a call from former Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has been working with her to coordinate efforts.”

Washington Post: “Haley is set to deliver a speech on abortion Tuesday at the headquarters of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America in Northern Virginia, aiming to put her stamp on the issue as an unapologetic antiabortion voice who can nonetheless win back moderate voters who were alienated by other Republican candidates in the 2022 midterm elections. Her speech comes as Republican-led states have moved to restrict abortion access and the courts battle over access to a drug for medication-induced abortions.”

CBS: “Bob Vander Plaats, an influential evangelical leader in Iowa, endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday, giving his campaign a boost as he goes all in to try to win the first state in the presidential primary cycle. … ‘The sanctity of life is not something to be nuanced. It’s not something to be poll-tested, it’s not a thing where the heartbeat bill is ‘too harsh’ of a thing to be passed in the state of Iowa or the state of Florida,’ Vander Plaats said last Saturday at a gala put on by the Pulse Live Advocates group, the longest standing anti-abortion rights group in the Hawkeye State.”

Ms Magazine: “If you want just a little taste of where the conservative movement is headed, look at the Alliance Defending Freedom—a right-wing legal organization that has spearheaded the fight against abortion rights. The ADF is the group that overturned Roe v. Wade, and ended the era of legal abortion in the United States… They are currently trying to get the Supreme Court to overturn the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, a drug that has been on the market for decades and is safer than aspirin, because, they say, it’s dangerous—when in reality, they oppose it because mifepristone is an abortion drug.”

Politico: “A conservative legal organization worked with the Trump administration to make it easier for states to defund Planned Parenthood … HHS last month told states they no longer have to comply with Obama administration policy that made it difficult for states to exclude the women’s health group from their Medicaid programs — an announcement timed to the March of Life anti-abortion rally. HHS received a draft legal analysis from the conservative Alliance Defending Freedom a week before the announcement.”

Alliance Defending Freedom: “Gov. DeSantis appoints ADF Senior Counsel Denise Harle to Florida Faith-Based and Community-Based Advisory Council”