FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Doctors for America
PO Box: 21161
2300 18th St NW Lbby
Washington, DC 20009-9996
June 13, 2024
Doctors for America Statement on the Supreme Court’s Ruling on Mifepristone
Washington, D.C.: Doctors for America’s (DFA) FDA Task Force applauds the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to protect access to mifepristone, a medication that has been safely used by physicians and patients for over 20 years.
DFA is deeply troubled by the continued attack on the reproductive health and safety of our patients, and that lower courts continue to place their political agendas before science and safety. That is why Doctors for America, along with the Reproductive Health Coalition, filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court warning of the dangers restricting access to mifepristone would create for patients and physicians.
Chair of the FDA Task Force, Dr. Ramachandran said in response to the ruling, “I am grateful and relieved that the Supreme Court followed science in their decision today finding that the anti-abortion plaintiffs in this case lack standing to challenge the FDA’s regulations allowing access to mifepristone for medication abortion. This was a clear attempt to weaken the power of the FDA and shrink patient and provider autonomy by limiting women’s right to choose the best care for their health. The FDA Task Force applauds this decision, but we know there is more work to be done to grant access in states that have outlawed these safe and effective therapies.”
Though we are grateful for this ultimate decision to protect access to mifepristone in states where it has not been specifically outlawed, we are deeply troubled by the court’s statement clarifying the implications of this decision on the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act or EMTALA. The court stated EMTALA does not, “override an individual doctor’s conscience objections.” This leaves women everywhere vulnerable to ideology taking precedence in their health care rather than safety and efficacy. We urge the Biden administration to take decisive action to ensure that mifepristone remains widely accessible nationwide and that patient safety takes precedence over individual ideologies.
For press inquiries for Doctors for America or the Reproductive Health Coalition regarding clinician members willing to speak on this issue please contact Claire Onyechi with Continuum Health Group ([email protected]). For press inquiries to the legal team at Columbia Law School, please contact Christopher Morten ([email protected]).
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About Doctors for America:
Doctors for America mobilizes doctors and medical students to be leaders in putting patients over politics to improve the health of our patients, communities, and nation. We are 27,000 physicians and medical students in all 50 states, representing all areas of specialization. Our impact areas focus on access to affordable care, community health and prevention, and health justice and equity. DFA focuses solely on what is best for our patients, not on the business side of medicine, and does not accept any funding from pharmaceutical or medical device companies. This uniquely positions DFA as the organization that puts patients over politics and patients over profits. Find out more at doctorsforamerica.org and on Twitter @drsforamerica.
About DFA’s Amicus Brief:
The amicus brief was filed on behalf of DFA and the RHC by Columbia Law School’s Science, Health & Information Clinic (SHIC). SHIC provides pro bono legal help to DFA. Columbia Law student attorneys Emily Davidson and Matt Tracy led work on the brief, with support from student attorneys David Ratnoff, Keerthi Manimaran, and Rubí Rodriguez, SHIC Director Christopher Morten, and Dallas attorney Thomas Leatherbury.
The brief filed for the Supreme Court of the United States can be found here . DFA’s earlier amicus brief filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in February in the case of Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA can be found here, and the brief filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit can be found here.
About the Reproductive Health Coalition
The Reproductive Health Coalition (RHC) is a wide-range of health professional associations and allied organizations who advocate with a unified voice to protect access to essential reproductive care. The tenets of this work include: a patient’s right to dignity, autonomy, privacy, and the expectation of a trusted relationship with their clinician; protection of the clinician’s ethical obligation to provide care, including their access to comprehensive training; and a commitment to an evidence-based approach to policy and practice. Over 40 organizations participate in the RHC, collectively representing more than 150 million members. Click here for more information.