States Move to Stockpile Abortion Pill as DOJ Fights Ruling

Several states are rolling out plans to stockpile the abortion medication mifepristone after a pair of conflicting rulings over the drug's legality in federal court over the last week.

Last week in California, Governor Gavin Newsom's office announced plans to build up a 2 million pill stockpile of misoprostol, a drug used in combination with mifepristone to induce abortions.

In Washington, Democratic Governor Jay Inslee announced his administration had prepared its own stockpile of mifepristone over concerns it would potentially be outlawed.

And in Massachusetts, Governor Maura Healey said Monday her state had obtained 15,000 mifepristone pills ahead of a court-ordered injunction that could pull the drug from pharmacies across the entire country.

It was a move she claimed was part of a larger strategy to protect abortion access that includes the imposition of a shield law she said would protect providers who stock and dispense mifepristone.

"Massachusetts stands up for civil rights and basic freedoms. That's who we are, and why I'm so proud to live in this great state," Healey said in a statement announcing the effort. "You have my word, as your Governor, that we'll keep shining as a beacon of hope for everyone seeking care."

The Future of the Abortion Pill

The announcements come after plans from President Joe Biden's Department of Justice to fight for the drug's legality after two conflicting decisions on the drug's future, setting the stage for a new fight over abortion protections following the overturning of landmark abortion protections established under the court's 1972 decision in Roe v. Wade last summer.

In Texas last week, a conservative judge appointed by former President Donald Trump with close ties to conservative activists, Matthew Kacsmaryk, ordered a hold on federal approval of mifepristone in response to questionable claims around the drug's safety, overturning federal safety approvals that have been in place for more than two decades.

That same day, Barrack Obama-appointed judge Thomas O. Rice ruled the opposite way in a federal court in Washington state, preventing authorities from implementing any changes that would restrict access to the drug in one dozen liberal states around the country.

The conflicting judicial decisions have since left the drug's future in limbo, and likely place the issue on a direct path to the U.S. Supreme Court. In a statement last week, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said his department "strongly disagrees" with Kacsmaryk's decision, while adding he was "committed to protecting Americans' access to legal reproductive care."

Biden was blunt about the ruling in his own statement about the Texas decision last week, writing in a tweet that the government "will fight this ruling."

"Let's be clear: Vice President [Kamala] Harris and I will continue to lead the fight to protect a woman's right to an abortion, and to make her own decisions about her own health," he wrote. "That is our commitment."

Newsweek has contacted the DOJ for comment, including whether their office would enforce a ban on abortion medications in states that continued to stockpile them.