New York, NY, Monday, June 17, 2024 – The Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York (“WBASNY”) strongly supports a woman’s right to make her own reproductive healthcare decisions which includes the use of Mifepristone. Mifepristone has been safely used by millions of women for abortions, stillbirths, and miscarriages for almost 24 years. Medication abortion has been a reliable, affordable, and accessible way for women and girls to obtain an abortion. Mifepristone is taken in combination with Misoprostol to induce a safe abortion. This two-drug regimen is utilized in more than half of abortions nationwide and is widely considered the standard of care.

WBASNY remains firm and unwavering in its longstanding commitment to a woman’s right to make her own healthcare choices, including choosing, in consultation with medical personnel, the manner in which she decides to obtain an abortion. WBASNY applauds the United States Supreme Court decision in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine rejecting the lawsuit challenging the Food and Drug Administration’s approach to regulating the abortion pill Mifepristone. However, WBASNY notes the rejection was based upon a lack of legal standing by the doctors and anti-abortion groups that challenged access to the medication. The decision therefore was not on the merits of the actual claim. Thus, WBASNY is keenly aware of the strong likelihood of future litigation challenging the use of Mifepristone. Irreparable harm will be caused to women throughout the United States should future cases challenging the use of Mifepristone succeed because it would have a chilling effect on a woman’s access to abortion and reproductive health services.

Women in this country who seek an abortion are often advised that the least expensive, safest, and most effective means to do so is with the use of Mifepristone. Without the use of Mifepristone, abortions will be limited to less safe and often more expensive surgical abortions. This limitation would result in yet another dangerous attack on women, and in particular, poor and disadvantaged women, women of color, and survivors of gender-based violence. WBASNY recognizes that, nationwide, women are still second-class citizens under the law. WBASNY persists as a strong supporter of a woman’s fundamental right to make her own reproductive health decisions and vehemently opposes any Court decisions that abolish those rights.

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The Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York (WBASNY) is the professional membership organization of choice for nearly 4,000 attorneys throughout New York State and the largest statewide women’s bar association in the country. For more than four decades, WBASNY has been a singularly important resource for women lawyers, providing professional networking, continuing legal education programming, leadership training, and advocacy for the rights of women, children, and families. Through involvement with WBASNY’s 20 regional chapters and its 40-plus substantive law committees, WBASNY’s members collaborate with one another on a variety of issues and perform public and community service, in furtherance of its mission to promote the advancement of the status of women in society and women in the legal profession; to promote the fair and equal administration of justice; and to act as a unified voice for its members with respect to issues of statewide, national and international significance to women generally and women attorneys in particular. WBASNY holds United Nations NGO status with the U.N.’s Department of Public Information, and Special Consultative status in association with the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). WBASNY is also a founding member of the National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations.