Hirono Statement on Supreme Court’s Ruling in Mifepristone Case

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement on the Supreme Court’s ruling in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, a case concerning access to mifepristone.

“Today’s decision has preserved access to mifepristone for now, however, the door remains open so that this access could be challenged again in the future. Let’s be clear—we are in this position because the far-right super majority on the Supreme Court overturned Roe and sowed chaos for millions of people across the country. Our rights should not be dependent on the ideological whims of this Court—we must secure the fundamental rights of all Americans to access abortion and make decisions about their own bodies and futures. That is why we need to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act and protect access to reproductive health care for all.”

A long-time champion for abortion access, Senator Hirono is committed to protecting the fundamental right to abortion care for all. Last April, Senator Hirono joined over 200 of her colleagues in submitting an amicus brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in the case of Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA, in support of the Biden administration’s appeal of federal district court judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk’s Friday ruling that suspends the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) more than 20-year-old approval of mifepristone—threatening access to mifepristone for patients nationwide, as well as FDA’s Congressionally-mandated authority and drug approval process. That month, she also released a statement in response to a Trump-appointed, right-wing U.S. District Court Judge’s decision that would effectively ban mifepristone nationwide. The lawsuit, which was filed in November 2022 by the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine—a coalition of anti-abortion medical associations and doctors—sought a preliminary and permanent injunction ordering the FDA to withdraw approval for mifepristone, which it issued over 20 years ago. Last March, she also joined her colleagues in sending a letter to Walgreens CEO Rosalind Brewer, expressing concern regarding recent reports that the company would not dispense medication abortion in 21 states where Republican Attorneys General threatened the company. In February, Senators Hirono, Hassan, and Warren led a group of their Senate colleagues in sending a letter to Danco Laboratories, a manufacturer of mifepristone, urging them to submit an application to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to add miscarriage management to the medication’s label—which currently only includes medication abortion but can also be safely and legally used for miscarriage management.

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