Attorney General Curtis Hill has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene to enable the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to require abortion clinics to follow standard procedures in performing chemical abortions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A U.S. district court recently ruled that the FDA must suspend several of its normal rules during the pandemic — including a requirement that mifepristone, an abortion drug, be dispensed only in a clinic, medical office or hospital. Then, a federal appeals court denied a motion to stay the injunction imposed by the district court.
Attorney General Hill is joined by Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry and eight other states in a brief filed with the Supreme Court supporting the FDA’s motion for a stay of the district court’s ruling pending an appeal.
Indiana, Louisiana and other states have laws similar to the FDA protocol at issue, but they have previously been denied formal entry into the case as parties. The states are now asking to participate as amici curiae, or “friends of the court.”
“The rules governing chemical abortions are designed to protect women’s health,” Attorney General Hill said. “They are fully enforceable and safe to follow during the current pandemic. Federal courts should not use COVID-19 as an excuse to interfere with the FDA’s long-established and well-considered procedures.”
