Statement from Catholics for Choice on the Supreme Court Extending the Stay of the Mifepristone Ruling
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, April 21, 2023
Contact: John Becker, Press Secretary
Phone: (202) 203-0931
Email: jbecker@catholicsforchoice.org
Statement from Catholics for Choice on the Supreme Court Extending the Stay of the Mifepristone Ruling
“For the time being, mifepristone remains accessible for women and pregnant people… but the threat has not abated.”
WASHINGTON – Catholics for Choice, which uplifts and amplifies the voices of the majority of Catholics who believe in reproductive freedom, issued the following statement from President Jamie L. Manson, M.Div. on the Supreme Court’s extension today of an administrative stay on a ruling from the U.S. District Court from the Northern District of Texas that would have decimated access to the safe, popular, and effective abortion drug mifepristone:
“We are relieved that the Supreme Court declined to unleash further chaos today by reimposing decades-old, medically unnecessary restrictions on mifepristone, the nation’s most commonly-used abortion medication. For the time being, mifepristone remains as accessible for women and pregnant people across the United States as it was before the politically-motivated ruling by Judge Kacsmaryk in Texas.
“But the threat has not abated: abortion opponents’ unprecedented and meritless challenge to the FDA’s approval of the drug continues to work its way through the courts, where judicial ideologues at the district and appellate levels have substituted their own personal judgment for the expert scientific judgment of the country’s top doctors.
“The unending fight to strip women and pregnant people of their bodily freedom and force them to continue their pregnancies against their will — which disproportionately impacts Black, brown, and Indigenous people of color, LGBTQIA+ people, immigrants, and people struggling to make ends meet — is a profound betrayal of the fundamental values of Catholic social teaching, particularly respect for human dignity and affirmation that healthcare is a human right.
“Catholics for Choice demands an immediate end to these unconscionable acts of judicial activism. The resolution to this fight could take months, and we vow to continue to fight on behalf of the faithful pro-choice majority to build a world where abortion and the full range of sexual and reproductive health care is available to all who need it, in whatever setting and at whatever time they choose.”
Catholics for Choice shapes and advances sexual and reproductive ethics that are based on justice, reflect a commitment to a person’s well-being and respect, and affirm the capacity of all people to make moral decisions about their lives.
