After filing an amicus brief on behalf of himself and 22 other state attorneys general in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit supporting West Virginia’s abortion prohibition, Attorney General Tim Griffin issued the following statement:
“Two years ago, the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade and returned the authority to regulate or prohibit abortion to the States. The Food and Drug Administration’s flawed approval of an abortion drug doesn’t change that, and that’s why I led 22 states in filing an amicus brief arguing that FDA approval of an abortion drug doesn’t override West Virginia’s state law prohibiting abortions.”
The amicus supports West Virginia’s defense of its abortion restrictions from a legal challenge by the abortion drug maker GenBioPro, which claims that West Virginia cannot ban abortion because that would restrict access to an FDA-regulated drug. In particular, GenBioPro claims that the FDA’s modest mifepristone safety regulations preempt all state laws that affect mifepristone access—an erroneous view that would preempt a host of state laws regulating everything from the practice of pharmacy and medicine to state malpractice law.
Attorney General Griffin previously led a multistate amicus brief supporting West Virginia’s motion to dismiss this case in federal district court. That court agreed and dismissed GenBioPro’s lawsuit. The states supporting West Virginia urge the Fourth Circuit to affirm that decision.
Original source can be found here.