In response to the Supreme Court’s decision to temporarily stay the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling on mifepristone, which allows for continued telehealth access to mifepristone while the Louisiana v. FDA lawsuit plays out in court, the leaders of Intersections of Our Lives — a collaborative of In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda (In Our Own Voice), National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF), and National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice (Latina Institute) — issued the following statements:
“We should all be alarmed when courts are used to challenge established scientific findings, override evidence-based medicine, and harm millions of people seeking reproductive healthcare,” said Dr. Regina Davis Moss, president and CEO of In Our Own Voice. “For Black women, girls, gender-expansive people, and communities already pushed to the margins of our healthcare system, the stakes could not be higher. Telehealth access to mifepristone is not a loophole, a shortcut, or a convenience. For many, it is an essential lifeline and can be the difference between getting timely care and being denied care altogether. Today’s decision does not end the threat to medication abortion, but it strengthens our resolve.” Read the full statement.
“For many AANHPI communities, reproductive health care is already shaped by significant structural barriers, including language access barriers, rising health care costs, immigration-related fear, lack of insurance coverage, and cultural stigma. Restrictions on telehealth and medication abortion would only deepen these inequities, particularly for people living in states with abortion bans, rural communities, and immigrant families already navigating fear and instability,” said Christina Baal-Owens, executive director of NAPAWF. “Legal protections alone are insufficient if people cannot safely and meaningfully access care in practice.” Read the full statement.
“We’ve seen that court battles like this one create fear, fuel misinformation, and push people further away from care. For many Latines and immigrant communities, concerns about detention, surveillance, and family separation already keep them from seeking healthcare. The chaos and confusion of these legal challenges only deepen an already dangerous crisis,” said Lupe M. Rodríguez, executive director of Latina Institute. “Let’s be clear: this is not about safety. It’s about politics and control. And while courts may try to control our options, they do not define our futures. We will continue to organize and build power in Latine communities and fight for a world where everyone, no matter who they are or where they live, can access the care they need with dignity and without fear.” Read the full statement.
Amid escalating efforts to erode our reproductive freedoms at the federal and state levels, the Supreme Court’s decision provides only temporary, fragile, and incomplete relief for individuals seeking care across the nation. Every day that we are forced to wait for a permanent decision is another day of uncertainty for millions, particularly for those in states where abortion access has been severely restricted and telehealth medication abortion is often the only real option. We know these ongoing, ruthless attacks on our ability to access safe and affordable reproductive health care are disproportionately harming women and gender-expansive people of color.
Mifepristone has been scientifically backed and approved by the FDA for decades. Medication abortion is a safe, evidence-based standard of care for abortions and early miscarriages, now accounting for nearly two-thirds of abortions nationwide.
The full vision of reproductive justice demands that our communities have the power, agency, and resources to make decisions about our bodies, families, and futures — and Intersections of Our Lives will continue fighting alongside our communities to protect that vision.