ICYMI: Vice President Harris Convenes Meeting to Discuss Threats to Medication Abortion

Yesterday, Vice President Kamala Harris convened a meeting at the White House with leading medical experts and reproductive rights leaders to discuss protecting reproductive health care. Vice President Harris discussed how attempts to undermine access to medication abortion not only threaten our public health system, but also threaten fundamental freedoms.

Read more below:

Reuters: US VP Harris defends abortion pill facing legal attack

[Trevor Hunnicutt, Jeff Mason, 2/24/2023]

Vice President Kamala Harris defended the abortion drug mifepristone on Friday, calling attacks against it another attempt to attack fundamental rights in the United States, as some activist groups work to end American sales of the pill. [...]

Harris met with reproductive rights groups on the topic at the White House, and said attacking the drug is akin to going after the very foundation of the American public health system and is not just an attack on women's fundamental freedoms.

She said there are "partisan" and "political attacks" questioning the legitimacy of the scientists and doctors who had conducted research on the drug, which was approved 20 years ago. […]

The Hill: Harris says challenge to abortion pills an attack on science and public health

[Nathaniel Weixel, 2/24/2023]

Vice President Kamala Harris warned Friday that a looming Texas court decision threatening access to abortion pills is an attack on a "fundamental freedom" of access to health care. […]

"And so those who would attack this process and the ability of the FDA to make these decisions ought to look in their own medicine cabinets to figure out whether they're prepared to say that those medications that they need to alleviate suffering and to prolong the quality of life should no longer be available to them," Harris said. […]

Harris indicated she was raising awareness for the American public.

"We are here today to talk about what we will do to highlight this issue to make sure the people of America are aware of what is happening […]

Axios: Harris: Abortion pill lawsuit is an "attack" on public health

[Oriana Gonzalez, 2/24/2023]

Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday called the lawsuit challenging the FDA's approval of abortion pills an "attack on the very foundation of our public health system." […]

The FDA's review of mifepristone was a "strenuous, peer-reviewed process determining it is safe," Harris said ahead of a meeting with abortion rights leaders.

"There are now partisan and political attacks attempting to question the legitimacy of a group of scientists and doctors who have studied the significance of this drug," Harris added. […]

STAT News: VP Harris: Abortion pill case could take 'constitutional right' from Americans

[Sarah Owermohle, 2/24/2023]

A looming Texas court decision on abortion pills could impact nationwide access to medication, Vice President Kamala Harris warned Friday, as she described abortion access as a "constitutional right." […]

"This is not just an attack on women's fundamental freedoms. It is an attack on the very foundation of our public health system," Harris said during a White House meeting. . She was joined by American Academy of Family Physicians President Tochi Iroku-Malize, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists CEO Maureen Phipps, and other reproductive rights advocates and doctors groups. […]

"We are here today to talk about what we will do to highlight this issue to make sure that people in America are aware of what is happening, so we can make sure that people in America are protected in terms of us fighting for their rights to have access to the medication that they need," she said.

Associated Press: White House braces for ruling on abortion pill's fate

[Amanda Seitz, 2/24/2023]

[…] Dr. Kristyn Brandi said she told the vice president Friday that the ruling could trigger widespread confusion over the accessibility of medicated abortion in the U.S. Brandi, who is chair of the Physicians for Reproductive Health, said she already fields calls at her New Jersey clinic from women asking if medicated abortion is legal in the state. […]

Spectrum News: Harris blasts efforts to reverse abortion drug's approval

[Ryan Chatelain and Associated Press, 2/24/2023]

[...] "The president has been very clear that we are committed to protecting every woman's right to make decisions about her own body and her own future, and that all people in our country should have that freedom and liberty," Harris said. […]