Submitted by Mickey Belosi
In the wake of the Supreme Court Dobbs vs Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision June 24, 2022, 24 states have passed legislation severely restricting or altogether banning abortion. The Wyoming governor just signed a bill outlawing the sale, use or possession of mifepristone, one of a two-drug regiment used for non-surgical abortion. Kentucky and South Carolina have filed legislation to define abortion as murder and make individuals who have had or facilitated abortion subject to the death penalty.
This is an alarming trajectory.
The Reproductive Rights Task Force of the Central New York National Organization for Women firmly supports easy access to all women’s health care, including abortion, and specifically medication abortion. In recent years, more than half of all abortions in the U.S. were by medication rather than surgical procedure. Because of its efficacy, the FDA in February made it easier to prescribe and obtain the two-dose regimen of mifepristone and misoprostol.
Anti-abortion rights activists and their political allies are trying to end mifepristone nationwide – even in states that have protected abortion access. A federal court judge in Texas will be ruling soon on a case that would outlaw prescribing and selling mifepristone across the nation.
Mifepristone is safe, effective and has been used by more than 5 million people in the U.S. since the FDA approved it more than 20 years ago.
We applaud Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James who stated “Even as access to this medication is under threat elsewhere for political reasons, we remind you that New York’s law is simple. Abortion is legal and protected as a fundamental right under state law, and there are no legal barriers to dispensing mifepristone in New York pharmacies. New Yorkers urgently need their health care providers to clearly stand up for access to reproductive health care.”
We support safe, effective and accessible abortion care for all.
Editor’s note: Mickey Belosi is president of the Central New York Chapter of the National Organization for Women. For more information, email nowcny@gmail.com.