Federal judge ensures mifepristone access in Delaware
Attorney General Kathy Jennings announced Friday that Judge Thomas O. Rice of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington has issued an order reiterating that his injunction protecting access to mifepristone in 17 states — including Delaware — and the District of Columbia remains in full force and effect notwithstanding recent orders by two courts in Texas.
Yesterday, in an appeal of a separate Texas lawsuit, a panel of judges in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order imposing restrictions on access to mifepristone. Judge Rice’s order clarifies that those restrictions do not apply to the 18 states that filed a lawsuit in the Eastern District of Washington to preserve and expand access to abortion medication.
“Delaware is holding the line on safe and legal abortion access — including full access to mifepristone,” said Attorney General Jennings. “Our legislature has been working for years to protect and expand abortion access in our state. Our grassroots advocates have stepped up to support Planned Parenthood, to form the First State Abortion Fund, and to help us establish the AG’s Abortion Helpline. And our office remains resolute in the fight to protect reproductive rights — including, thanks to Judge Rice’s ruling, uncompromised access to the safe, effective medication used in the majority of Delaware’s abortions. We will never stop fighting to protect the right to choose.”
Delaware is a plaintiff state in a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington against the Food & Drug Administration accusing it of singling out mifepristone for overly burdensome regulation, despite a rate of adverse effects lower than that of Tylenol, Viagra, or penicillin. In addition to Jennings, attorneys general from Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington State, and Washington, D.C., partnered on the lawsuit.
On April 7, Judge Rice issued an injunction barring the FDA from “altering the status quo and rights as it relates to the availability of Mifepristone” in the states involved in Washington’s lawsuit. The FDA filed a motion seeking clarification of Judge Rice’s decision in light of a potentially contradictory order from the Northern District of Texas. Judge Rice responded by clarifying that his order applies “irrespective of” the Northern District of Texas or the Fifth Circuit’s rulings in that separate litigation.
From the order:
“Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(a), irrespective of the Northern District of Texas Court ruling or the Fifth Circuit’s anticipated ruling, Defendants and their officers, agents, servants, employees, attorneys, and any person in active concert or participation, are PRELIMINARILY ENJOINED from: ‘altering the status quo and rights as it relates to the availability of Mifepristone under the current operative January 2023 Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy under 21 U.S.C. § 355-1 in Plaintiff States and the District of Columbia.’”
Delawareans seeking guidance on abortion services in Delaware can get free, anonymous legal advice and service referrals from the AG’s Abortion Helpline at (302) 992-8096 or toll-free at (877) 312-2366, or online at de.gov/abortionhelpline. Delawareans seeking financial support for reproductive care may contact the First State Abortion Fund at (302) 491-9429 or visit www.firststateabortionfund.org. Information on obtaining abortion medication is available at www.plancpills.org. A national list of abortion providers is available at www.abortionfinder.org or www.ineedana.org.
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