SR78

A Senate Resolution respectfully urging the United States Supreme Court to prioritize public health, the freedom of people to plan their families without undue governmental interference, and access to essential medical care.

Whereas, The health and safety of women and individuals in need of reproductive health care has been placed in crisis, setting off a chain reaction of criminalizing essential care throughout entire regions of the country; and

Whereas, The overturning of the Roe v. Wade decision in 2022 by the United States Supreme Court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Org. resulted in uncertainty around key reproductive rights issues, marking an unprecedented attack on women’s rights and reproductive freedom; and

Whereas, Access to essential healthcare has also been thrown into jeopardy; in April 2023, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had improperly approved mifepristone, which effectively banned its market availability and use; and

Whereas, In a separate ruling, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington granted a request to keep mifepristone on the market, blocking the FDA from altering the availability of mifepristone, and directing compliance with the order irrespective of the Texas court ruling; and

Whereas, These conflicting federal court orders require intervention by the United States Supreme Court to resolve the questions raised and provide guidance to federal agencies on the legality of the approval of mifepristone; and

Whereas, Mifepristone is a drug that blocks the hormone progesterone, which is needed for a pregnancy to continue; mifepristone can also be used for the treatment of miscarriages, to save the life of the pregnant individual and in the event pregnancy results from rape or incest; and

Whereas, In 2000, the FDA first approved mifepristone for the medical termination of pregnancy through seven weeks and extended that approval to ten weeks of pregnancy in 2016, determining the drug to be safe and effective; and

Whereas, Mifepristone has been determined to be safer than certain “low-risk” prescription and non-prescription drugs, including penicillin and Tylenol; and

Whereas, An additional 40 million women of reproductive age could lose access to this medication around the country, in addition to the 24.5 million women currently living in states with reproductive rights bans; and

Whereas, Forcing people to carry pregnancies against their will has life-altering consequences, including enduring serious health risks from continuation of pregnancy and from childbirth; and

Whereas, The right of individuals to make private health care decisions and the authority of the medical profession and scientific community to make determinations concerning safety and effectiveness of medications have been severely compromised by the judicial determinations made by the federal courts; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of New Jersey:

1. The Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court is respectfully urged to: respect the role of medical providers and the scientific community; resolve the conflicting federal court decisions concerning mifepristone; respect and value the freedom of people to make decisions about planning their families free from unreasonable government influence; and respect and value the safety of those who need access to safe medical care in reproductive health matters.

2. Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Secretary of the Senate to the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court and every member of the United States Senate and each member of the United States House of Representatives elected from this State.

STATEMENT

This resolution respectfully urges the United States Supreme Court to respect the role of medical providers and the scientific community; resolve the conflicting federal court decisions concerning mifepristone; respect the freedom of people to make decisions about planning their families free from unreasonable government influence; and respect and value the safety of those who need access to safe medical care in reproductive health matters.

In June 2022, the United States Supreme Court overturned the holding in Roe v. Wade and other federal cases in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Org., returning decisions affecting reproductive rights to the individual states. The perspective shown by the Court in overturning Roe demonstrates a willingness to overturn settled law on ideological grounds.

Mifepristone has long been determined to be safe and effective by the scientific and medical community. Nonetheless, a judicial determination alone could upend the conclusions reached by these medical and scientific authorities and further affect the ability of individuals to make private health care determinations.