Several New York state lawmakers have vowed to do whatever they can to overcome a ruling by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that the abortion drug mifepristone can no longer be distributed by mail or prescribed through telehealth virtual visits with doctors. They expressed a hope that New York state can get ahead of the federal government on the issue by quickly enacting new legislation. The U.S. Supreme Court was considering an appeal of the Fifth Circuit decision and issued a temporary stay of the Fifth Circuit’s ruling.
State Senators Shelley Mayer, Michelle Hinchey, Andrew Gounardes, Lea Webb, Patricia Fahy, and Erik Bottcher and Assemblymembers Steve Otis, Diana Moreno, Karines Reyes, and Amy Paulin joined with women’s reproductive rights advocates and spoke at the New York State Capitol in Albany to call attention to the court action and stress that mifepristone was approved as safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration in 2000. They noted that the drug is used for about 60% of abortions.
The group urged Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign the Mifepristone Access Act sponsored by Hinchey in the State Senate and Paulin in the State Assembly, which would allow patients and health care providers in New York to continue to access and use the mifepristone in New York.
“Despite the increasingly aggressive and hostile actions taken by other states and the federal government, New York will not waiver,” Mayer said. “The Fifth Circuit’s decision attempts to impose the ideology of other states onto New Yorkers, undermining the very principle that, following the overturning of Roe, these decisions should be left to the states.”
According to Hinchey, “Our Mifepristone Access Act would guarantee that medication abortion won’t vanish due to shifting federal rules, and makes clear that prescribing or using it is not a crime. New York must stand as a beacon for the country, advocating for a future where reproductive health care is free from discrimination.”
Paulin said, “As a safe harbor for reproductive freedom, New York State must protect access to medication abortion and the women and providers who depend on it.”
Reyes, who happens to be a registered nurse, said, “As a nurse, I know what fear looks like; and right now, women and providers across this country are waking up afraid. The legislation before us is not an abstract policy debate. It is the difference between a woman receiving timely, vital care and being turned away because an antagonistic court decided ideology matters more than medicine.”
Julie Kay, founder and CEO of Reproductive Futures, warmed, “Anti-abortion officials are not just trying to restrict access in their own states. They are trying to reach into states like New York and chill the providers here. But here is what I know: New York does not have to wait for the courts to do the right thing. New York can act now.”
Robin Chappelle Golston, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Empire State Acts said, “Medication abortion is incredibly safe whether it’s provided in person or via telehealth. But this has never been about science. Anti-abortion activists and lawmakers want to make it harder for everyone, everywhere to get an abortion when and where they need one. In partnership with our allies in state government, we remain equally determined to ensure that the power to control our bodies, futures, and lives is our own and no one else’s.”
