Pro-abortion AG won’t defend North Carolina’s law regulating chemical abortions

By Dave Andrusko

This comes as absolutely no surprise. North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein is a Democrat and pro-abortion (but I repeat myself) so why would he willingly defend a pro-life law. Answer, he won’t.

Some background.

Lawsuits have been filed by pro-abortionists in North Carolina and West Virginia that seek to place the authority of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over any state laws with regard to chemical abortion drugs.

Last month, the FDA formalized a decision made in 2021 to permanently drop the in-person requirement for the distribution of the abortion pill and updated labeling for mifepristone (generic for Mifeprex) that would allow pharmacies (both online and brick and mortar) to dispense the drug.

Stein agrees with the FDA’s position.

“Stein will argue that North Carolina laws on medication abortion are preempted by federal regulations protecting access to the pills, his office said Monday.”

The Associated Press’ Gary R. Robertson explains

The decision by Stein, a Democrat, means Republican legislative leaders who want to keep the restrictions would have to seek to formally intervene in the federal lawsuit, which was filed by Amy Bryant, a physician who prescribes the drug mifepristone.

“While the FDA has the authority to permit the use of drugs and medicines, this authority does not prohibit states from regulating or prohibiting them also,” stated James Bopp, Jr., general counsel for National Right to Life. “This is another example of the Biden administration unlawfully trying to seize federal power and usurping legislative authority to advance their radical pro-abortion agenda.”

Mifepristone is used in combination with misoprostol to cause an abortion. Mifepristone blocks progesterone, causing the death of the unborn baby, while the second drug, misoprostol, causes powerful, painful uterine contractions to expel the dead baby.

“In a chemical abortion, the perfectly healthy mother of a perfectly healthy baby ingests a drug that takes the life of the unborn child and has the potential to endanger the life of the mother,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “Contrary to the abortion industry’s latest talking points, abortion is not ‘health care.’ Whether the abortion is surgical or chemical, the abortionist’s intention is the deliberate destruction of a living unborn baby.”