WASHINGTON – This week, Congresswoman Jahana Hayes (CT-05), a member of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus, and 262 of her colleagues submitted a bicameral amicus brief requesting the Supreme Court of the United States reverse the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. Federal Drug Administration (FDA) decision made in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. This decision would restrict access to mifepristone, a commonly used abortion drug.
213 members of the United States House of Representatives and 50 United States Senators filed the brief.
Mifepristone is one of two medications used in a medication abortion and has a safety record of over 99%. Patients also use the medication to control high blood sugar or hyperglycemia. If the Supreme Court rules against the FDA it would override their scientific authority, decrease access to safe abortions for millions of women, and impact those living with Cushing’s syndrome who also have type 2 diabetes.
Throughout the amicus brief, members stress the danger of undermining the congressionally mandated drug approval process and the importance mifepristone has for safe abortion care and miscarriage management.
“FDA’s determination that mifepristone is safe and effective is based on a thorough and comprehensive review process prescribed and overseen by the legislative branch. Since mifepristone’s initial approval in 2000, FDA has repeatedly and consistently affirmed that the medication is safe and effective for its approved conditions of use. FDA’s process and conclusions have been validated by both Congress and the Government Accountability Office—and by the lived experience of over 5 million patients who have used the drug in the United States,” the lawmakers wrote.
A study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, estimated there were about 520,000 rapes resulting in 64,565 pregnancies in the time since abortion bans have been enacted in 14 states.
On the federal level, Congresswoman Hayes is working to preserve, protect and advance the reproductive rights of women in Connecticut and across the U.S. She voted against the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act and is a cosponsor of the Women’s Health Protection Act and the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance (EACH Woman) Act.
In 2022, the Congresswoman invited U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to Planned Parenthood of Southern New England Waterbury Center to hear from patients, providers, legislators, and community partners about the critical need to protect access to safe, affordable reproductive health care.
Later that year, she hosted Vice President Kamala Harris at Central Connecticut State University for a productive conversation with Alexis McGill Johnson, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
Find the full text of the brief here.
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