Attorney General William Tong released a statement regarding the unanimous decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, which preserves access to medication abortion. The Court reversed a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that had imposed restrictions on mifepristone, an abortion medication. The plaintiffs, a group of doctors opposed to abortion, were found to lack standing to sue as they were not injured by any FDA action.
“The plaintiffs want FDA to make mifepristone more difficult for other doctors to prescribe and for pregnant women to obtain. Under Article III of the Constitution, a plaintiff’s desire to make a drug less available for others does not establish standing to sue,” the decision states.
Attorney General Tong joined 24 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief defending access to medication abortion in this case. He stated, “Medication abortion is safe, legal and accessible in Connecticut... We will fight back at every single step along the way to protect the rights of patients and providers.”
Since taking office, Attorney General Tong has been active in protecting reproductive justice, including involvement in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, which overturned Roe v. Wade. Connecticut also filed a lawsuit with 16 other states and the District of Columbia challenging restrictions on mifepristone.
A formal opinion issued by Attorney General Tong last year ensures no ambiguity regarding patients' rights to access abortion and providers’ ability to prescribe mifepristone remains unchanged by today’s decision.
Since its approval by the FDA in 2000, mifepristone has been used safely by about five million people for early-term abortions and miscarriage management. In Connecticut alone, nearly 64 percent of abortions performed in 2021 used mifepristone.