Sixty members of Congress have filed an amicus brief with a Louisiana district court in support of a lawsuit challenging the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) 2023 decision to remove in-person dispensing requirements for the abortion pill mifepristone. The case is led by Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill.
Among those supporting the lawsuit are Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., co-chair of the House Pro-Life Caucus. In their brief, Cassidy, Smith, and other lawmakers argue that “by expressly authorizing mail-order chemical abortion drugs, the FDA is endangering women’s health and safety by eliminating a medically necessary in-person examination to screen for contraindications.”
The lawmakers also express concern that removing the in-person requirement could increase risks related to domestic abuse and coerced abortions. They cite the example of Rosalie Markezich from Louisiana, who alleges she was coerced by her boyfriend into taking mifepristone ordered from a California doctor. Markezich has joined Murrill as a plaintiff in this case.
The brief further claims that “the FDA reached a predetermined and politically motivated conclusion to expand access to abortion drugs despite lacking enough evidence to show the change would be safe.”
Rep. Chris Smith highlighted research indicating serious risks associated with mail-order abortion pills. He referenced an Ethics and Public Policy Center report stating that more than one in ten women who take mifepristone “experience sepsis, infection, hemorrhaging, or another serious adverse event within 45 days — over 22 times higher than the rate currently admitted by the FDA.”
A press release from the HELP Committee notes that lawmakers believe repealing the in-person dispensing requirement violated federal law. They are asking the court to reinstate previous regulations and grant a preliminary injunction while litigation continues.
Chris Smith has represented New Jersey’s 4th district in Congress since 1981 after succeeding Frank Thompson (https://catholicvote.org/congress-members-file-amicus-brief-over-fda-allowance-of-mail-order-abortion-pills/). He was born in Rahway, New Jersey in 1953 and currently resides in Manchester Township. Smith graduated from The College of New Jersey with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1975.
