New York, Connecticut lawmakers weigh in on abortion pill ruling
LONG ISLAND (WABC) -- Reaction from across the Tri-State has been swift and contentious as access to the most widely used abortion medication, a pill called mifepristone, hangs in limbo after contradictory rulings by two federal judges.
A conservative federal judge in Texas ruled on Friday to suspend FDA approval of the drug, but within hours, a federal judge in Washington state ruled to keep the pill available.
Mifepristone has been used for 23 years and in more than half of the abortions in the United States.
The Department of Justice is now appealing the case, and on Monday, filed an emergency stay motion to block the Texas judge's order. It's a potentially bitter battle that could reach the Supreme Court.
"I think the government should mind their business about what a woman can and cannot do with her body," Joyce Murray said.
Murray is a nurse practitioner from Franklin Square.
"I shouldn't have to be forced to have a pregnancy that I don't want that was caused by a rape or an incest and the government, which is mostly all men, need to be changed," Murray said.
Others are grateful for the Texas ruling.
"It was certainly a victory," Students For Life Action President Kristan Hawkins said. "It is one that we've been praying for for some time."
Former New York State Senator Anna Kaplan fought to protect abortion rights in New York last year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
"I know the will of the people of New York, they wanted us to codify Roe into our state law," she said. "We did that. It is really important for us to make sure that we codify Roe federally."
As some voice their concerns on Long Island, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont is vowing to protect women's health and reproductive rights.
"Not here. Not here in the state of Connecticut, nothing has changed," Lamont said.
"We have a federal judge in Texas, who as far as I can tell, has no scientific background, second guessing the FDA, casting doubt on a drug mifepristone, about which there is no doubt that it's safe, it's been safe for decades, it's safer than Tylenol," Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said.
Patient Liz Gustafson used the abortion pill.
"We deserve better than confusion, stigma, shame and misinformation," she said.
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