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ICYMI
ICYMI: Mini Timmaraju Joins Jonathan Capehart to Discuss Louisiana v. FDA and How Attacks on Medication Abortion Will Influence Midterm Elections
ICYMI: Mini Timmaraju Joins Jonathan Capehart to Discuss Louisiana v. FDA and How Attacks on Medication Abortion Will Influence Midterm Elections
Reproductive Freedom for All President and CEO Mini Timmaraju joined Jonathan Capehart on The Last Word to discuss the recent oral arguments at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit around Louisiana v. FDA, a case that threatens access to medication abortion across the country. Republican attacks on medication abortion aim to achieve a backdoor nationwide ban—and voters are watching just 50 days from Election Day.
Timmaraju underscored that Dobbs was never about leaving it to the states, as this administration continues to intensify attacks on reproductive freedom: “What folks need to understand is the Trump administration, and Donald Trump himself, promised to leave this issue to the states, and promised to address affordability. They’ve done absolutely the opposite. They have weaponized their entire administration. Simultaneously, they’re gutting women’s healthcare. They don’t care about women’s lives. They don’t care about women’s care.”
The science on the safety and efficacy of mifepristone is backed by more than 25 years of research. Imposing unnecessary requirements around dispensing would harm patients across the country, as Timmaraju noted: “It’s allowed so many more Americans to have affordable access to care in states with bans and without bans—in states like California where we have massive rural health deserts, maternal health deserts, and folks can’t get access to care. The majority of all abortion care in this country is done currently by mifepristone, at over 60% of care. So it has ramifications across the country.”
Eight in 10 Americans support access to abortion care—Republicans are wildly out of step with the public. They know it’s a losing electoral issue for them, which is why they’re trying to hold some of their most controversial pushes until after the midterms to dodge accountability from voters.
“Republicans are going to keep trying to kick the can post-midterms, and we can expect to see a lot of action on this issue with the incoming FDA Commissioner Heidi Overton, who is a known anti-abortion extremist. And her confirmation will be, I’m sure, pushed until after we get through a contentious fight on this issue in the midterm elections.”
“So voters need to understand that going in we have a chance to flip Congress and to hold this administration accountable and put a stop to the weaponization of this administration for this extremist agenda,” Timmaraju concluded.
For over 55 years, Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America) has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for everybody. Reproductive Freedom for All is powered by its more than 4.5 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.
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Press Release Minnesota