The Quickie: PPAF Prez on SCOTUS Oral Arguments Over Medication Abortion

Welcome to “The Quickie” — Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s daily tipsheet on the top health care & reproductive rights stories of the day. You can read “The Quickie'' online here.

In today’s Quickie: PPAF prez on SCOTUS oral arguments, PP Votes responds to the mifepristone case, and Dr. Bhavik Kumar reiterates the importance of mifepristone.

PPAF PREZ ON SCOTUS ORAL ARGUMENTS OVER MEDICATION ABORTION: Yesterday, Alexis McGill Johnson, Planned Parenthood Action Fund president and CEO reflected on the oral arguments at the Supreme Court concerning access to medication abortion. She told the Washington Post that the impact of the ruling could be “as consequential as Dobbs was for the midterms,” adding, “Going into the summer with a negative ruling by Trump’s Supreme Court, essentially, I think would turn the tide even more in stronger favor for the Biden-Harris administration.”

Alexis also joined MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports outside the Supreme Court to discuss what she heard in the courtroom saying, “It was an interesting opportunity to listen to them grapple with the fact that there really was no standing in this case, that mifepristone is safe and effective. I think the government made very clear that the role of the FDA to ensure the safety and effectiveness of the medication had been done over the last 20 years, in multiple studies, 5 million patients.

Read more in the Washington Post here and watch the MSNBC interview here. 

 

PLANNED PARENTHOOD VOTES RESPONDS TO SUPREME COURT ORAL ARGUMENTS IN MIFEPRISTONE CASE: Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine — a case that could jeopardize FDA approval of the medication abortion mifepristone. In response to the hearing, Jenny Lawson, executive director of Planned Parenthood Votes, released a statement discussing the importance of electing leaders who will protect abortion access: 

“The oral arguments are the clearest sign yet that the anti-abortion movement’s assault on our reproductive rights is just the beginning. No matter what state you live in, abortion opponents remain focused on their ultimate goal of a national abortion ban. Should the Supreme Court allow this essential medicine to be restricted, it will only worsen the public health crisis Donald Trump created when he delivered the Supreme Court majority that ended our federal abortion rights. Come November, we must elect candidates who have a clear understanding that politicians have no right to our medical decisions and reject all efforts to control our bodies, lives and futures.”

Paid for by Planned Parenthood Votes, 123 William St, NY NY 10038. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

 

ABORTION PROVIDER REITERATES IMPORTANCE OF MIFEPRISTONE ACCESS: Following yesterday’s Supreme Court oral arguments in a case that could limit access to mifepristone, Dr. Bhavik Kumar, Medical Director for Primary and Trans Care at Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, emphasized the safety and efficacy of mifepristone and the need to maintain access to it:

“More choices and more access means that people have better outcomes. They can access the care they need quicker and more conveniently. There’s fewer barriers to care. We know the use of medication abortion, including mifepristone, is extremely safe and extremely effective…the more options we have, the more we learn, the more we can meet people’s needs.