Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Statement on the Supreme Court’s Decision in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine

The Justice Department issued the following statement from Attorney General Merrick B. Garland on the Supreme Court’s decision in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine: 

“The Justice Department is gratified that today’s unanimous decision in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine ensures that mifepristone remains available for women across the country on the terms approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 

For more than two decades, and across five presidential administrations, millions of Americans have relied upon FDA’s expert judgment that mifepristone is safe and effective for termination of early pregnancies. Today, more than half of those who choose to terminate their pregnancies rely on mifepristone to do so. 

I am proud of the work of lawyers at the Justice Department for vigorously defending the FDA’s expert judgment about the safety and efficacy of a medication that women have relied upon for more than twenty years. But our work does not end today. The Department will continue to work tirelessly to protect and advance reproductive freedoms under federal law. 

As I said the day Dobbs was decided, women who reside in states that have blocked access to comprehensive reproductive care must remain free to travel to states in which that care is lawful. Under the First Amendment, individuals must remain free to inform and counsel each other about the reproductive care that is available across state lines. And, as the Office of Legal Counsel has concluded, the Comstock Act does not prohibit people from mailing mifepristone or misoprostol when they do not intend the recipient to use those drugs unlawfully.

The Department of Justice is committed to protecting reproductive freedom. We will continue to use every tool at our disposal to protect women’s access to mifepristone and other lawful reproductive care.”