West Virginia State Capitol / Adobe Stock
Several pro-life organizations praised the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals’ July 15 ruling upholding West Virginia’s ban on the abortion drug mifepristone, describing it as a sharp rebuke of GenBioPro’s attempt to override state law.
As CatholicVote previously reported, the ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by GenBioPro, the manufacturer of mifepristone, which claimed the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of the drug preempted the state ban. The court rejected that claim, affirming state authority to regulate abortion.
Heartbeat International, which submitted an amicus brief in the case, called the ruling a victory for states’ rights and women’s health.
“This decision protects West Virginia’s authority to regulate abortion and protect women and children from the harms of the abortion drug,” the group said in a press release emailed to CatholicVote.
Heartbeat International criticized the FDA’s current rules, which let women obtain mifepristone without an in-person medical exam or ultrasound to verify gestational age.
The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which also filed a friend-of-the-court brief, denounced GenBioPro’s legal argument as “absurd” and dangerous in a July 16 statement.
The group warned that GenBioPro’s interpretation of FDA authority would strip states of their power to regulate other dangerous drugs, including fentanyl and opioids.
“[T]hat the FDA regulates a drug does not mean its use is somehow shielded from state law restriction,” ACLJ said. “Homicide committed with fentanyl, for example, is still homicide, and states can ban it.”
State governments wouldn’t be able to ban doctors from prescribing lethal drugs, even if state laws ban physician-assisted suicide, according to the group.
The ruling could have wider implications for how other states regulate abortion pills. According to ACLJ, a similar challenge to North Carolina’s abortion restrictions is now pending before the same appeals court.
