Abortion rights advocates are fearful.
AUSTIN, Texas — The lawsuits are piling up against President Joe Biden’s administration over abortion-inducing medication being sold at pharmacies in the state of Texas. Republicans already scored a victory when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade last year, but now they’re honed in on stopping the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from “illegally forcing pharmacies across America to provide abortifacients, which are prescription or over-the-counter drugs that induce abortions,” according to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s new legal filing on Tuesday.
The abortion-inducing drugs, mifepristone and misoprostol, have a permanent stamp of approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for dissemination through telemedicine consultation. But Republicans are taking to state legislatures to ban the drugs altogether. However, in June 2022, the HHS established pharmaceutical guidelines that push back against any discriminatory practices, as pharmacies are federally funded through Medicare and Medicaid.
Biden has continued to hold his ground in defending abortion seekers. Last month, he asked for the support of HHS to allow people in need of the medication easier access anywhere around the country.
“The Biden Administration knows that it has no legal authority to institute this radical abortion agenda, so now it’s trying to intimidate every pharmacy in America by threatening to withhold federal funds,” said Paxton. “It’s not going to work. Texas and several other states across the country have dutifully passed laws to protect the unborn, and we are not going to back down just because unelected bureaucrats in Washington want to create illegal, extremist federal policies.”
Under the HHS guidance, pregnancy discrimination goes against pharmaceutical policy. With this, Biden has racked up many lawsuits from Republicans in opposition to the federal civil right — that many say abortion is exempt from, given the Supreme Court’s revocation of federal abortion protections in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
“…The Supreme Court’s June 2022 Dobbs decision made clear that laws governing abortion are to be decided by state lawmakers, not the federal government,” read a press release from Paxton. “HHS’s guidance thus runs contrary to Dobbs by unlawfully preempting certain states’ laws that bar pharmacies from supplying these abortion-inducing drugs.”
Abortion rights advocates are fearful that soon the 2020 federally approved drug mifepristone, which is widely used nationally, will be revoked — especially since the Texas-led lawsuit in November will be before a conservative majority. That decision could be around the corner. But abortion supporters have not thrown in the towel just yet, as they’re fighting back with lawsuits of their own.
The Center for Reproductive Rights has been in litigation for many court cases at the state, national and regional levels to protect abortion rights from restrictive policies that serve to uphold Christian-like values. Even religious leaders in some states are stepping up to go to bat for abortion seekers. Their stance in the drawn out battle is from a place that is without judgment, and they do not wish to stand for lawmakers imposing their beliefs onto others.