Attorney General Cameron Joins 21-State Amicus Brief

Urging U.S. Supreme Court to Protect States’ Right to Regulate Abortion

Frankfort, Ky. (April 18, 2023) – Attorney General Daniel Cameron today joined 21 states in filing an amicus brief, urging the Supreme Court of the United States to protect the right of each state to regulate abortion.

“After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the Biden Administration directed the FDA to make abortion-inducing medication ‘as widely accessible as possible,’” said Attorney General Cameron. “We joined this amicus brief to push back against this blatant act of federal overreach by President Biden and to protect the authority granted to Kentucky’s elected representatives to regulate abortion in the Commonwealth.”

The attorneys general have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to deny the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) and a drug manufacturer’s requests to stay a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which limited the circumstances in which mifepristone is approved for use. The FDA had previously approved the distribution of mifepristone for “the medical termination of intrauterine pregnancy” through 70 days pregnancy.

In the amicus brief, joined by Attorney General Cameron, the coalition argues that the FDA’s approval of mifepristone violates federal criminal law. They write, “Longstanding federal law provides that ‘[e]very article or thing designed, adapted, or intended for producing abortion ... [i]s declared to be nonmailable matter and shall not be conveyed in the mails or delivered from any post office or by any letter carrier.’”

The attorneys general argue that the FDA’s approval of mail-order abortion medication disregards the authority given to elected officials in each state to protect the life, health, and safety of their residents. They write, “The Administration claims that it has the power to make abortion drugs broadly accessible despite contrary determinations by States and despite laws that States have enacted to protect life, health, and safety in the use of those drugs.” They further add, “That claim is wrong."

After a district court halted the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals declined to stay much of the lower court’s ruling. The FDA and a lead manufacturer of chemical abortion medication then sought relief from the U.S. Supreme Court. The brief filed today asks the U.S. Supreme Court to deny this request.

Attorneys General Cameron joined attorneys general from the following states Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming in filing the brief.

To view a copy of the amicus brief, click here.