Thread by @LawrenceGostin

At #Roe's 50th anniversary, the nation is seeking new legal frontiers to safeguard reproductive freedoms. As the battle over abortion continues to evolve, I join Rebecca Reingold of @oneillinstitute in @JAMA_current to talk through key legal strategies:

jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/…

To mark the anniversary, President Biden signed a memorandum to ensure access to medication abortion. Now, new FDA rules allow clinicians to prescribe mifepristone in pharmacies or dispense by mail. DOJ also clarified the lawfulness of sending abortion medications through USPS.

DOJ has suggested it might challenge state bans on abortion medications based on FDA’s power to set national uniform standards. Whether or not DOJ succeeds, states should not be able to pick & choose which FDA-approved medications to allow. That would cause grivious harm

In Dec., HHS proposed a new rule for health workers who refuse to provide abortion or other services for religious or moral reasons. While religious freedom is important, health workers should not be able to deny patients services based on their status, such as LGTBQ+ people

We must ensure that pregnant persons can obtain needed assistance in obtaining abortions outside their home state.

Since the 2022 midterm elections, many states have also established a right to abortion in their own constitutions—another means of legal protection.

HHS has hinted that declaring a ph emergency for abortion is still on the table. Abortion access is certainly a health crisis. But I worry it won't achieve meaningful change on the ground. It could also set a dangerous precedent and be overturned by the courts.

As the landscape continues to change, innovative legal strategies to safeguard reproductive freedoms are crucial. After #Dobbs, abortion is more socially and politically contentious than ever. We must do all that we can to advance pregnant people's autonomy, dignity, and health