Padilla, 41 Senators Introduce Resolution Affirming Support for FDA’s Scientific Judgment That Medication Abortion is Safe and Effective
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) joined Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), and 39 other lawmakers in introducing a resolution in support of equitable, science-based policies governing access to medication abortion.
Their resolution follows the Supreme Court’s announcement that it will hear a challenge to medication abortion access.
Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, reproductive rights have been increasingly under attack, with more than a dozen states banning or restricting access to abortion care, and anti-abortion extremists attempting to ban medication abortion nationwide. Medication abortion is currently used for over half of all abortions.
“Reproductive freedom is a fundamental right, and we must stand resolute in affirming access to lifesaving abortion care,” said Senator Padilla. “With the Supreme Court and MAGA Republicans constantly threatening longstanding, essential reproductive freedoms, it’s imperative that safe, science-based drugs like mifepristone are equitably accessible and protected to the fullest extent under the rule of law.”
Specifically, the resolution expresses the sense of Congress that the Food and Drug Administration’s scientific judgment that mifepristone is safe and effective should be respected, and that law and policy governing access to life-saving, time-sensitive medication abortion care in the United States should be equitable and based on science. The resolution acknowledges the significant harm that would be posed to both health care providers and patients across the nation if mifepristone were sharply curtailed.
The resolution was also cosponsored by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senators Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-N.M.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Angus King (I-Maine), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).
The resolution has been endorsed by Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Physicians for Reproductive Health, Power to Decide, National Council of Jewish Women, The Century Foundation’s Health Equity and Reform Team, National Partnership for Women and Families, Guttmacher Institute, Center for Reproductive Rights, Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America), In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda, and the EMAA Project.
Senator Padilla is a staunch defender of reproductive rights. As a cosponsor of the Women’s Health Protection Act, Padilla is fighting to protect access to abortion access throughout the United States. Earlier this year, he and Senator Murray introduced legislation to protect abortion providers from attempts to restrict their practice and create uncertainty about their legal liability. While Republican-led state legislatures work to deny reproductive rights, he’s also fighting to protect patients’ rights to travel freely between states to access abortion care.
Full text of the resolution is available here.
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