The state has amassed a year’s supply of the abortion medication mifepristone in defiance of a Texas-based judge’s move to block access to the drug.
The governor, speaker, Senate and UMass presidents and members of the delegation took to the State House steps in a show of solidarity over a ruling that has reignited the abortion debate nationwide.
“Here in Massachusetts, we are not going to tolerate this,” Gov. Maura Healey said. “Abortion will remain safe, legal, and accessible here in Massachusetts.”
The governor, standing alongside U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Reps. Ayanna Pressley and Lori Trahan, Lt. Gov Kim Driscoll, Attorney General Andrea Campbell, state Senate President Karen Spilka and House Speaker Ron Mariano, among others, said she had just signed an executive order “confirming protections for medication abortion under existing state law.”
“The action we are taking today protects access to mifepristone in Massachusetts and protects patients and providers from liability,” Healey said.
On Friday, Texas-based U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk — appointed by former President Donald Trump — decided to overturn the Food and Drug Administration’s over-two-decade-old approval of the country’s most common method of abortion in a pill.
Healey said she has also directed the University of Massachusetts system to purchase 15,000 doses of the abortion pill at the cost of about $675,000. That’s enough to last the state for more than a year, Healey said.
“This order was placed before the judge’s ruling and we expect to have the doses in hand this week,” the governor said.
Marketed under the name Mifeprex, mifepristone can be used to prevent a potential pregnancy from becoming viable, according to manufacturer Danco Laboratories, by blocking the production of the hormone progesterone, “a naturally produced hormone that prepares the lining of the uterus for a fertilized egg and helps maintain pregnancy. Without progesterone, the pregnancy cannot continue.”
According to the Food and Drug Administration, since approval was first granted, the drug has been used by more than 5 million women to safely prevent a viable pregnancy while demonstrating a history for safety even when compared to common over-the-counter drugs like aspirin.
The drug’s safety was called into question in a lawsuit filed in Texas by the Alliance Defending Freedom, which was also involved in the Mississippi case that led to Roe v. Wade being overturned.
Kacsmaryk declared that the FDA had not properly followed safety protocols when approving the drug in 2000. The judge gave healthcare providers in all 50 states just a week to prepare for the drug’s outright ban.
The Biden Administration has appealed the ruling and asked the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to stay the Trump-appointed Amarillo-based judge’s order while their appeal plays out.
“My Administration will fight this ruling,” President Biden said in a statement following the decision. “But let’s be clear – the only way to stop those who are committed to taking away women’s rights and freedoms in every state is to elect a Congress who will pass a law restoring Roe versus Wade.
According to Healey, one way or the other, Massachusetts women will continue to have access to the abortion pill.
“Nothing has changed and nothing is going to change. We’re going to make sure that we stay course here in Massachusetts and ride this out. People in Massachusetts will be protected,” she said.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu chose to take the judge’s ruling as an opportunity to make an offer to any woman from a state where access to reproductive care may be blocked by legislation or court decisions.
“To all the women out there, to all who care about women and girls in your lives, who might be thinking about how to start a family one day or who are just trying to live your lives with full bodily autonomy: move to Massachusetts,” Wu said. “We are here to welcome all.”
