Washington — Yesterday, the Trump administration submitted yet another petition to the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to reinstate a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rule that requires patients to travel to a health center during a global pandemic in order to obtain medication abortion care. Last week, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland upheld an injunction blocking this requirement, making it easier for people to access care without jeopardizing their health by unnecessarily exposing them to COVID-19.

In response to news of this petition, NARAL Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue released the following statement:

“This petition is just another politically-motivated attempt to block abortion access by a lame duck president hellbent on causing this country as much harm as possible in his final weeks in office. Instead of focusing on a pandemic that has killed more than 300,000 Americans, Trump is focused on blocking people from the time-sensitive essential care they need. Patients’ health and safety must always come first. Especially during this pandemic, healthcare policy should be guided by sound science—not an ideological agenda.”

Medication abortion is a safe, effective, and FDA-approved option for ending an early pregnancy. It involves taking two different prescribed medications. The ACLU’s lawsuit challenges the FDA’s current requirement that forces patients seeking medication abortion care to travel to a hospital, clinic, or medical office to pick up the first medication used in the two-step process, mifepristone. The ACLU filed the lawsuit on behalf of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, and others.

###

For over 50 years, NARAL Pro-Choice America and its network of state affiliates and chapters have fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom—including access to abortion, contraception, and paid family leave—for every body. NARAL is powered by its more than 2.5 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 7 in 10 Americans who believe every person should have the freedom to make the best decision for themselves about if, when, and how to raise a family.