LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel issued a statement Thursday reaffirming the legality of mifepristone, one of two drugs used in the typical medication abortion, in accordance with the Food and Drug Administration’s most recent prescription standards.
Nessel’s statement came after a federal court of appeals in Texas on Wednesday affirmed an injunction against the prescription of the drug under the FDA’s 2016 and 2021 modified standards while vacating two injunctions against the standards set by FDA in 2000 and 2019.
“Abortion remains legal and available in Michigan and this court opinion will have no effect on the standards or practices of mifepristone prescription in the state,” said Nessel. “We will continue to defend Michigan as a safe haven in our region for women to access reproductive healthcare and, as always, my department’s top priority will be to safeguard the health, safety, and wellbeing of the residents of our state.”
Michigan is a plaintiff state in another case, State of Washington, et. al. v. FDA, et. al., and as such is temporarily immune to the effects of this week’s federal rulings on mifepristone standards.
Federally, the new rulings would not remove mifepristone from the market, but would require the FDA to revert to its prescription standards on the drug prior to 2016, Nessel’s office said.
Nessel also alluded to the successful state ballot initiative in Nov. 2022 to enshrine reproductive rights in the Michigan constitution.
“The people of Michigan spoke loud and clear last November when they further secured their rights to reproductive freedom by enshrining them in our state’s constitution,” Nessel said.
