Washington, DC — On all fronts, Democratic AGs are using the power of their offices to protect and expand access to abortion – while Republican AGs are leading efforts to further attack abortion access. Today, Bloomberg Law’s Allie Reed reported on the stark difference in the AG’s actions, writing, “Top law enforcement officers in red and blue states are leaning on never-before-tested legal strategies to probe the boundaries of reproductive restrictions nationwide since the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion.”

Bloomberg Law continues, “Republican attorneys general invoked an 1873 anti-obscenity law to warn pharmacies of the legal consequences of distributing the abortion pill. They also threw their support behind an unprecedented lawsuit seeking to overturn the FDA’s two-decades-old approval of the drug.”

“Democratic attorneys general sued their own party’s administration in an effort to make the abortion pill more accessible, and banded together to defend citizens’ right to travel to states where abortion is legal.”

In addition, “Democratic attorneys general are looking into data privacy protections to support pregnant people traveling to their states to obtain an abortion, and prohibiting law enforcement from cooperating with extradition requests from anti-abortion states. Republican attorneys general are filing federal lawsuits with the goal of freezing abortion-rights directives from the Biden administration for as many states as possible.”

Yesterday, POLITICO’s Alice Miranda Ollstein also emphasized the actions of Democratic AGs in safeguarding abortion. As Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson shared, “‘The FDA has approved over 20,000 drugs without limitations. So why is mifepristone listed along with fentanyl as one of only 60 drugs that have limitations?’ he said. ‘It doesn’t make sense from a science perspective. And that’s why we think we’re going to prevail.’”

“‘I’m just not going to put up with an FDA that places unreasonable and illegal limitations on this important medication,’ Ferguson, who is leading the coalition, said in an interview.”

“Should the judge rule in their favor, the case could eliminate restrictions in those states — broadening access to the drug for tens of millions of people. But the oral arguments also come as a federal judge in Texas is set to rule on whether to ban the pills entirely, and the potential for clashing federal court decisions could push the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court, which overturned Roe v. Wade in June.”

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