SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday that California will stockpile an emergency supply of 2 million abortion pills known as misoprostol in response to a federal judge in Texas ruling against the authorization of another medication that has been used to terminate pregnancies for decades.
“In response to this extremist ban on a medication abortion drug, our state has secured a stockpile of an alternative medication abortion drug to ensure that Californians continue to have access to safe reproductive health treatments,” Newsom said in a statement. “We will not cave to extremists who are trying to outlaw these critical abortion services. Medication abortion remains legal in California.”
The announcement follows U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s ruling Friday that aims to nullify the federal Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, an abortion medication that has helped millions of women to medically end their early pregnancies. The judge gave seven days for the ruling to go into effect, and the Biden administration is appealing the decision.
Newsom said the judge’s decision “ignores facts, science, and the law” in a way that puts “the health of millions of women and girls at risk.”
“Abortion is still legal and accessible here in California and we won’t stand by as fundamental freedoms are stripped away,” he said.
Mifepristone is used in conjunction with misoprostol as a common abortion option for women in the United States, and research has shown the regimen is safe and effective. The two-pill procedure can be substituted by a misoprostol-only option, though that can be a less effective alternative.
While the two-pill procedure is still preferred, Newsom’s office acknowledged, the state is in the process of purchasing up to 2 million misoprostol pills as the currently available back-up option to keep abortion easily accessible in California. More than 250,000 pills have arrived in the state, according to a Newsom administration statement announcing the deal.
Anti-abortion advocates, who on Friday celebrated the Texas judge’s decision, on Monday denounced Newsom’s effort to keep abortion medication available in California.
“It is appalling that Gavin Newsom is so obsessed with ending the lives of children in the womb that he is attempting to stockpile dangerous and potentially illegal drugs,” California Family Council President Jonathan Keller said in a statement. “California again proves the only ‘choice’ they care about is abortion.”
Meanwhile, another federal judge in Washington state issued a separate ruling Friday that ordered the FDA not to make any changes to the availability of mifepristone, setting up a legal battle expected to reach the U.S. Supreme Court. Washington and Massachusetts have similarly taken recent steps to build up their own supplies of abortion pills as a way to avoid the immediate ramifications of the ruling, though they chose to stockpile mifepristone.
In Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass and County Supervisors Holly J. Mitchell and Lindsey Horvath held a news conference Monday morning with Planned Parenthood Los Angeles leaders to affirm the county’s role as a “safe haven” for abortion rights in the wake of the Texas court decision.
Both supervisors described the Texas decision as a tactic by anti-abortion advocates to stoke fear and confusion around health care access. Mitchell called the decision “a disgrace” and said it “has no immediate impact on abortion and reproductive health services here in Los Angeles County.”
“Let it be clear,” Horvath said. “Anyone who comes to Los Angeles County will be safe, you will be protected. And this is what happens when we have a woman mayor and all women on the Board of Supervisors.”
Less clear is what may happen with mifepristone access in the county if the Texas ruling stands, effectively halting FDA approval of the medication nationwide.
“We don’t know what comes next,” Planned Parenthood Los Angeles President and CEO Sue Dunlap said, adding that they would continue to ensure that women have access to medication abortions regardless of the confusion.
“Will mifepristone still be available in L.A. County in the foreseeable future? Yes. Will all the things you’re afraid are going to happen potentially happen? Yes. Do I wish I could give you a definitive answer about what comes next? Yes,” Dunlap said.
Should FDA approval be overturned, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department “will not cooperate with attempts to prosecute people who are seeking abortion care,” Sheriff Robert Luna said in a statement read by Celinda Vázquez, Planned Parenthood Los Angeles’ chief external affairs officer.
Los Angeles County law enforcement will also not prosecute decisions made regarding individual reproductive care, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón’s chief of staff, Joseph Iniguez, said.
