Booker Statement on Federal Judge Ruling Blocking Access to Medication Abortion

Press Release

U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement:

"This decision from a district court judge in Texas stripping all women in our country of their right to safe and effective medical care is an outrageous attack on reproductive freedom. For over 20 years this medication has safely aided women, yet in one fell swoop a single judge has put thousands of women's lives at risk with this ill-reasoned, ideological decision that ignores science and the letter of the law.

"The FDA studied Mifepristone extensively throughout its four year approval process, and all evidence shows that the medication is safe and effective. In the more than two decades since its approval, thousands of women have relied on this medication as an alternative to surgical care. Restricting access to Mifepristone in this way is a gross, unconstitutional overreach that not only ignores the FDA's clear legal authority, but also restricts women's access to comprehensive health care and potentially life-saving medication.

"One unelected lower court judge with no scientific or medical background should not be dictating health care policy for the entire nation. Medical decisions are best left to Americans and their doctors, and this is another radical attempt to undermine women's ability to control their own bodies. The need for Congress to act and protect the Constitutional right to abortion has never been more urgent."

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