U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids denounces federal court’s decision on access to abortion drug

U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kansas, expresses frustration with a federal court decision forbidding distribution of a commonly used abortion medication through telemedicine consultations. The court is requiring patients to see a healthcare worker in person. (Photo by Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

TOPEKA — U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids of Kansas urged the public to contact lawmakers to express opposition to a federal appeals court’s order undercutting a U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulation broadening access to the abortion pill mifepristone.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit halted enforcement of an FDA rule adopted in 2023 permitting mifepristone to be prescribed without the patient seeing a healthcare provider in person. The immediate result was abortion providers nationwide were prohibited from prescribing the drug through telemedicine consultations that enabled patients to receive the drug through the mail.

Davids, a Democrat serving the 3rd District in the Kansas City area, said mifepristone was a widely used medication that accounted for more than half of abortions in the United States. The appeals court chose to override science-based decisions by FDA, she said.

“I’m furious,” Davids said. “Mifepristone is safe, backed by decades of evidence — and extremists are once again ignoring doctors to play politics with people’s health. This will make it harder — especially in rural communities already losing hospitals to Medicaid cuts — to get the care people need.”

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday paused the lower-court’s order blocking telehealth access to the abortion medication.

Two companies that manufacture the drug, Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro, filed requests for the U.S. Supreme Court to lift the appeals court’s order.

“I’ll keep fighting to protect Kansans’ access to care and keep these decisions between patients and their doctors — not politicians or courts,” Davids said. “We’re not going backward. Call your legislators and tell them to leave your freedoms alone.”

The five other members of the Kansas congressional delegation have sought to reduce access to abortion despite representing a state where voters overwhelmingly rejected in 2022 a proposed amendment to the Kansas Constitution that would have made it easier for politicians to further restrict or ban abortion.

In 2022, a Kansas judge ruled healthcare workers could prescribe abortion medications, including mifepristone, through telemedicine.

Attorney General Kris Kobach took steps to include Kansas among plaintiff states striving to rescind federal approval of generic mifepristone.