Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey sues Biden administration for approving shipment of chemical abortion pills in the mail
JEFFERSON CITY, MISSOURI: On Monday, November 6, Missouri's Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced that his office is suing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the US Department of Health and Senior Services for unlawfully approving the shipping of chemical abortion pills in the mail.
Bailey's suit, which was joined by the states of Idaho and Kansas, follows his efforts earlier this year in notifying CVS and Walgreens that their intention to deliver abortion drugs through the mail would violate state and federal regulations.
Twenty Republican state Attorney Generals joined the campaign, which is spearheaded by Bailey, who stated in February that his office will employ "every tool at our disposal to uphold the law."
"Unelected federal bureaucrats do not have the statutory authority to approve the shipment of these dangerous chemical abortion drugs in the mail," Bailey said in his statement on Monday.
"The FDA’s guidance is not only unlawful but would cost the lives of both women and their unborn children. I am proud to be leading a coalition of states that halt the FDA’s illegal federal overreach in its tracks," the statement added.
What’s in Andrew Bailey’s lawsuit?
Bailey claims in his lawsuit that the FDA has a "statutory responsibility" to protect every American's health, safety, and welfare, which includes rejecting or limiting the use of harmful pharmaceuticals.
According to the attorney general, the FDA, which is overseen by the Biden administration, has failed in this regard.
"Specifically, it failed America’s women and girls when it chose politics over science and approved risky, untested chemical abortion drugs for use in the United States," the lawsuit states.
"And, it has continued to fail them by turning a blind eye to these harms and repeatedly removing even the most basic precautionary requirements associated with the use of these risky drugs," it adds.
Bailey's action seeks a preliminary injunction against the FDA's 2016 repeal of most of the safety measures put in place when it authorized mifepristone in 2000; the FDA's 2019 approval of generic mifepristone; and the 2021 and 2023 policy permitting these pills to be mailed.
Bailey’s charge against the Biden administration
Walgreens and CVS first announced their intention to mail abortion pills after the Biden administration announced a plan over a year ago in early January to change a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rule to allow the aforementioned companies to apply for certification to distribute a two-step abortion-inducing drug.
Previously, mifepristone, the first pill used in the two-part abortion procedure, could only be dispensed by certain mail-order pharmacies or by approved doctors or clinics.
The FDA's approval would allow pharmacists to deliver the pill directly to patients after getting a prescription from a qualified physician.
However, the attorney generals caution that the change is an inaccurate interpretation of the law and would not be upheld in court.
In February, the attorney generals said that they rejected the Biden administration's "bizarre interpretation," and that they expect the courts to reject the same.
"Courts do not lightly ignore the plain text of statutes. And the Supreme Court has been openly aversive to other attempts by the Biden administration to press antitextual arguments," they stated.
"A future U.S. Attorney General will almost certainly reject the Biden administration’s results-oriented, strained reading," they added. "And consequences for accepting the Biden administration’s reading could come far sooner."
Meanwhile, the Biden Administration wants the United States Supreme Court to reverse a lower court order that restricts access to abortion medication.