Eight Michigan lawmakers sign SCOTUS brief opposing Texas abortion pill ruling

Eight Democratic members of Michigan’s congressional delegation have signed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court to try and reverse a controversial ruling concerning the use of mifepristone.

Access to the drug, considered the most common form of abortion care and a key component in miscarriage management, was called into question by a Texas federal judge who suspended FDA’s decades-long approval of the safe and effective medication.

The brief signed by 253 members of Congress, supports the Biden administration’s appeal of the Texas district court’s ruling, U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Flint) announced Monday.

Also signing on were U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-Lansing) and Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield Twp.), and U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-Ann Arbor), Hillary Scholten (D-Grand Rapids), Elissa Slotkin (D-Lansing), Haley Stevens (D-Waterford Twp.), and Rashida Tlaib (Detroit).

In the brief, the lawmakers write, “the district court appears to have second-guessed FDA’s scientific determinations with cherry-picked anecdotes and studies, and on that basis, imposed a remedy that could significantly upend the status quo.”