Dear Partners:

Apologies for a late night, weekend email, particularly when many of us are celebrating holidays, but when extremist judges try to sneak in decisions, we don't want to let them slip by. We urge you to join us in elevating reproductive health issues and making access to abortion an urgent health care priority (resources below).

 As advocates who have long been engaged in the fight to ensure that everyone in our nation has access to high-quality, affordable, equitable health care, I’m sure you share our deep concern about today’s ruling in Texas, which has invalidated the FDA’s approval of mifepristone.

The immediate consequences of this judicial activism are devastating for people who face a new and unprecedented barrier to getting needed reproductive care and for the providers who serve them. This decision also politicizes our science-based drug approval process and sets a dangerous precedent with far-reaching consequences for every person in America who relies on an FDA-approved medication. 

This is a critical moment for the health care advocacy community to join forces with our friends, colleagues, and partners in the reproductive justice movement.

Families USA issued a press statement today in response to the Texas ruling. Today, we urge all of our health care advocacy partners to join us in educating policymakers and the public about the devastating health impacts of the Texas ruling, centering on the following key messages:

• The Texas court’s judicial activism is an all-out assault on the scientifically-based FDA drug approval process, setting a troubling precedent that has the potential to politicize and undermine the future availability of all prescription drugs for all people. 
• The Texas ruling is an all-out assault on health care for women** -- including women who need this medication as part of their treatment during miscarriage as well as to terminate pregnancy. 
• The national impact of the Texas ruling runs counter to the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs, which stated plainly that abortion policy should be left to the states to decide. Today’s decision in Texas decision directly contradicts the Supreme Court finding by establishing a national abortion ban. 

**We encourage you to use gender inclusive language as appropriate for your audience. This is a rare abortion-related issue that can resonate across the political spectrum, including with conservative lawmakers and voters, and polling shows that the “women” language is likely to be most effective to protect these services that all birthing people need.

Please also use this social media toolkit that reinforces these messages and is designed specifically to make it easy for health care specific advocates to engage on the Texas ruling. 

Please let us know if you have questions or if we can assist you in any way!

Best,

Melissa Burroughs

Director of Strategic Partnerships

Families USA