Kaul joins multistate coalition pushing back on decision to block access to abortion drug

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Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul announced on Tuesday he joined a multistate coalition of 24 attorney generals to challenge a decision by a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas that could block nationwide access to the abortion drug mifepristone.

The decision was brought on by attorneys representing an anti-abortion group emboldened after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022.

A federal judge in early April ruled to suspend the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the medication. The coalition on Monday filed an amicus brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit Court to urge the court to stay pending appeal the district court’s ruling, Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) officials said.

Kaul and the coalition warned that revoking federal approval for mifepristone will drastically reduce access to safe abortion care and miscarriage management for millions across the country and would endanger lives and trample states’ authority to protect and promote abortion access.

“The months following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade have made it clearer than ever how vital it is for women to have access to the full array of life-saving reproductive health care services — without interference from politicians. Mifepristone has been used safely for years, and the misguided district court order that would prevent the use of mifepristone must be blocked,” Kaul said in a statement.

Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas on Friday ordered the FDA to stay its approval of mifepristone, DOJ officials said. The drug was first approved in 2000 and the ruling was coming in a challenge brought on by anti-abortion groups seeking to revoke the FDA’s approval.

The district court put its ruling on hold for seven days so the federal government and the drug manufacturer have an opportunity to appeal, DOJ officials said. Kaul and coalition members are urging the appeals court to continue to stay the lower court’s decision, citing research and studies for mifepristone’s safety and how abortion plays a role in reproductive health care, especially for low-income, underserved and rural communities.

“The continued availability of mifepristone for medication abortions is critical to safeguarding amici States’ important interest in protecting the health, safety, and rights of their residents, including an interest in ensuring safe access to essential reproductive health care,” according to the brief.

A study showed medication abortion makes up nearly 54 percent of all terminated pregnancies in the U.S. DOJ officials said blocking access to mifepristone would result in people taking part in riskier procedures, and more complicated and costly logistics as the demand for procedural abortions increases in place of medical abortions.

Policy research group Center for American Progress said the U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rates among developed countries, and Black women experience higher rates of maternal death than any other demographic.

Kaul joined attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia to file the brief.