WASHINGTON — Democratic lawmakers are mobilizing in the wake of a Texas decision that changed access to the so-called abortion pill on Friday, introducing legislation Monday to protect access to the most widely used form of abortion in the US.
Representatives Pat Ryan of New York and Lizzie Fletcher of Texas will introduce the Reproductive Freedom Protection Act Monday during a pro forma House session, seeking to reaffirm the Food and Drug Administration’s final approval authority over abortion with medications and continue to allow providers to prescribe the abortion pill through telehealth, which was expanded widely during the coronavirus pandemic.
“The Texas decision has nothing to do with science or medicine and everything to do with radical groups whose only goal is a national abortion ban,” said Ryan, who credits the victories in his swing state district New York in part to its stance on abortion. rights. «My priority is protecting abortion access for women in New York and across the country.»
Fletcher, who called his state, Texas, «the epicenter of attacks on the health and freedom of the American people,» said that «the unprecedented decision of the district court, which, if implemented, would be devastating for women and families across our country and to our drug approval system.”
It’s another move by congressional Democrats to send a message on the issue of reproductive access, despite the improbability that the legislation will ever pass the GOP-controlled House of Representatives. However, Democrats will continue to focus on abortion access, especially after seeing its power across the country in the 2022 midterm elections.
The bill comes days after a Trump-appointed district judge in Texas suspended the FDA’s approval of mifepristone more than 20 years after its initial acceptance and despite it being the most widely used abortion method. in the country. The Biden administration appealed the decision, ensuring that the issue remains in limbo. But a federal court in Washington state also issued a conflicting opinion on Friday, requiring the first of two pills used in medical abortion to remain available in the states without restrictions.