“I want Missouri to be the safest state in the nation for children, including those who haven’t yet been born,” said Attorney General Bailey. “Unelected bureaucrats should not be able to undermine state sovereignty and violate federal statute while doing so. I am proud to stand with other states against this FDA’s illegal federal overreach.”
“The authority to regulate abortion lies with the people and their elected representatives,” the attorneys general state in the letter. “In our states, we prioritize the health and safety of women and children and our laws reflect this. And in many states, including Alabama, elective abortion is illegal. . . . Our States will not yield to the Administration’s radical pro-abortion policies.”
The letter details the serious risks associated with abortion-inducing drugs, which both state and federal lawmakers have long recognized by imposing restrictions on their prescription and administration. But, in the wake of the Dobbs decision, “the FDA announced a wholesale change to [its policy aimed at mitigating the dangers of such drugs].” The FDA’s new policy is denounced by the attorneys general in no uncertain terms for “prioritizing . . . pro-abortion policy over women’s health,” which recklessly “endanger[s] the lives of women” in addition to “enthusiastically endanger[ing] the lives of unborn children.”
“Though the FDA has abdicated its responsibility to protect women’s health, we have not,” the attorneys general conclude their letter. “To be crystal clear, you have not negated any of our laws that forbid the remote prescription, administration, and use of abortion-inducing drugs. The health and safety of our citizens—women and children included—is of paramount concern. Nothing in the FDA’s recent changes affects how we will protect our people.”
Missouri sent the letter along with the attorneys general of the states of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.