New lawsuits target state restrictions on abortion pills
WASHINGTON — Supporters of abortion rights filed separate lawsuits Wednesday challenging two states’ abortion pill restrictions, the opening salvo in what’s expected to a be a protracted legal battle over access to the medications.
The lawsuits argue that limits on the drugs in North Carolina and West Virginia run afoul of the federal authority of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which has approved the abortion pill as a safe and effective method for ending pregnancy.
The cases were brought by a North Carolina physician who prescribes the pill, mifepristone, and GenBioPro, which makes a generic version of the drug and sued in West Virginia.
While the federal court lawsuits target specific state laws, they represent key legal tests that could eventually determine access to abortion for millions of women. Medication recently overtook in-clinic procedures as the most common form of abortion in the U.S.
The new litigation turns on a longstanding principle that federal law, including FDA decisions, pre-empt state laws. Indeed,
few states have ever tried to fully ban an FDA-approved drug because of past rulings in the agency’s favor.
But with the fall of Roe v. Wade there’s little precedent for the current patchwork of laws governing abortion.
After the Supreme Court overturned the decision in June, previously adopted restrictions on abortion kicked in and two states adopted new ones. Currently, bans on abortion at all stages of pregnancy are being followed in 13 states.
On top of that, 19 states — including North Carolina and West Virginia — have separate laws controlling how, when and where physicians can prescribe and dispense abortion drugs.
“West Virginia cannot override the FDA’s safety and efficacy determinations, nor can it disrupt the national market for this medication,” David Frederick, an attorney representing GenBioPro, said in a statement.
Legal experts foresee years of court battles over access to the pills.
North Carolina bans nearly all abortions after 20 weeks, with narrow exceptions for urgent medical emergencies. Physicians can only prescribe medication abortion after statemandated counseling for their patients and must dispense the drug in person.
The lawsuit, filed by Dr. Amy Bryant, an obstetrician and gynecologist, argues that such requirements contradict FDA-approved labeling for the drug and interfere with her ability to treat patients.
“We know from years of research and use that medication abortion is safe and effective — there’s no medical reason for politicians to interfere or restrict access to it,” Bryant said in a statement provided by the Expanding Medication Abortion Access project, an abortion rights group working on legal challenges to state laws.
The office of Attorney General Josh Stein, who is a defendant in the complaint because he’s the state chief law enforcement officer, was reviewing the complaint on Wednesday, his spokesperson Nazneen Ahmed wrote in an email. Stein, a Democrat who announced last week a bid for governor in 2024, is an abor