Statement by National NOW President Christian F. Nunes
WASHINGTON, D.C. — National NOW President Christian F. Nunes issued the following statement in response to this morning’s U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) ruling on the challenge to the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) regulation of mifepristone
“Today’s SCOTUS decision rejecting the challenge to the FDA’s regulation of mifepristone is a victory for women’s health—but not the end of this story.
This ruling means that now, states can step up their delivery of safe, effective medication abortion to more women, including home delivery to women who live in states that will still ban this essential care.
However, this 9-0 ruling was based solely on whether the plaintiffs in this case had the proper ‘standing’ to challenge the FDA’s authority. It, therefore, leaves an opening for conservative states to file their own challenges to medication abortion, and attorneys general in states, like Missouri, Kansas, and Idaho, who are eager to lead this charge. A new push by the states could mean another year or more of litigation, ensuring this issue will continue to be part of the political debate during the presidential campaign and beyond.
With mifepristone used in at least 63 percent of abortions nationwide, with thousands of pills delivered safely through the mail, the extremist judges, state lawmakers, and radical activists behind this challenge promise to return to Round Two. They will draft new challenges from other plaintiffs based on specious legal arguments and pure politics.
The next president will decide whether mifepristone’s essential role in protecting women’s health will be strengthened or taken away. The Supreme Court’s ruling is a flashing yellow light to women—signaling the dangers ahead.
Now, it’s up to women to take this fight forward. We will fight in the courts, in state legislatures, and this November, at the ballot box. We will vote for women’s lives.”
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