JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – In an effort to enforce the laws as written and protect women and children, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed an amicus brief in a highly watched lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration for their unlawful role in creating a regime of abortion by mail. Twenty-two other Republican attorneys general also oppose the FDA in this matter. Missouri’s brief brings to the court’s attention concessions abortionists have made in Missouri courts that reveal the harmful effects chemical abortion drugs have on women.
“The plain text of the law matters, which is why Missouri is helping lead the effort to block the FDA’s blatant attempt to nullify the law and harm women,” said Attorney General Bailey. “This brief raises awareness of the serious harm these abortion drugs impose on women. My office will do everything in its power to uphold the law and protect Missourians.”
The brief states that “Missouri has a strong interest in this litigation because the FDA’s decision to disregard the requirements of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1461–62 and create a regime of abortion by mail imposes harms that necessarily spill over into Missouri, impeding the operation of state law and drastically increasing the risks faced by Missouri women.”
The brief points out that, during recent litigation, Missouri uncovered deeply disturbing facts that should frighten everyone about how abortionists tend to distribute abortion drugs. Specifically, “abortionists routinely violate the medical standard of care when issuing abortion drugs, thus increasing the risks faced by women,” and “the medical literature substantially understates the true risk from abortion drugs because abortionists systemically fail to report complications.”
Further, the brief concludes that “the FDA policy harms women because it … threatens to permanently sever women from the physician relationships that are critical to properly resolve complications that inevitably occur. The FDA’s new rule not only violates 18 U.S.C. § 1461, as the plaintiffs correctly contend. But it is also unlawful because it fails to consider how eviscerating the medical standard of care will harm women.”
After citing an American Obstetrics & Gynecology publication that medication abortions are six times more likely to result in a complication than surgical abortions, Attorney General Bailey notes, “These numbers in fact understate the true risks from abortion drugs because—as the medical literature recognizes—many women never report their complications.”
The brief concludes with asking the Court to grant a preliminary injunction halting the FDA’s new rule.
Joining Missouri in opposing the FDA in this case are the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.
Missouri’s full amicus brief can be read here: https://ago.mo.gov/docs/default-source/press-releases/2020-02-10-brief-of-the-state-of-missouri-as-amicus-curiae-in-support-of-preliminary-injunction.pdf?sfvrsn=e105f118_2