Gov. Wes Moore says his administration is taking steps to stockpile a widely used abortion drug after a federal court ruling threatened its availability.
The Maryland Department of Health and the University of Maryland Medical System are currently assessing how it will purchase large quantities of mifepristone, a progesterone blocker that can end pregnancies under 10 weeks.
“As a member of the Reproductive Freedom Alliance, Maryland will not stand for this assault on women’s healthcare,” Moore said. “This purchase is another example of our Administration’s commitment to ensure Maryland remains a safe haven for abortion access and quality reproductive health care.”
The drug was originally approved by the Food and Drug Administration more than 20 years ago and prescribed in more than 60 countries. It is used for about half of all abortions in the United States and for miscarriage management, according to the FDA.
Earlier this month, a federal judge in Texas made a ruling that suspended the FDA’s approval of the medication.
Later, a federal appeals court temporarily preserved access to the drug, but under tighter rules. Those rules include prohibiting the use of the drug after seven weeks of pregnancy and prohibiting it from being sent through the mail.
Last Friday, the Supreme Court temporarily stopped those restrictions until midnight on April 19.
That order came after the Biden administration submitted an emergency appeal to the court to restore access to the drug.
The ruling suspending the drug’s approval was met with outrage by many Maryland officials.
“Mifepristone is safe and effective and will remain accessible in Maryland. I applaud the Moore-Miller Administration for ensuring recent decisions will not impact abortion access in Maryland,” said U.S. Rep. John Sarbanes, a Democrat who represents District 3. “These extremist judges attacking medication abortion cannot overrule the rights of Marylanders to make their own decisions about their health and futures.”
Maryland Department of Health Secretary Laura Herrera Scott added that the drug is important to reproductive health.
“Losing access to this medication will lead to poor health outcomes for women,” Herrera Scott said. “The Maryland Department of Health is working closely with the Moore-Miller administration and is proud to protect the reproductive rights of Marylanders, and we will continue to do so.”
