Rosenblum speaks at D.C. rally in support of abortion medication

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum was among the speakers at a rally on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court, where justices heard arguments in a challenge to federal approval of a medication that helps induce abortion.

“It was an honor to be with so many champions of reproductive justice on the front lines of the fight for access to essential health care,” she said in a statement after the rally Tuesday, March 26, in Washington, D.C. “The energy was infectious and gave me hope and renewed energy for the continued fight.”

Rosenblum and her counterpart in New York, Letitia James, spoke at the rally organized by the American Civil Liberties Union in support of the position taken by the Food and Drug Administration. The agency approved its use in 2000, and later allowed it to be sent by mail and prescribed via telehealth without in-person visits to doctors.

“Mifepristone is part of the gold standard of care for medication abortion, and we will not compromise on that,” Rosenblum said at the rally. "Here we are — in 2024 — confronting real threats to reproductive freedom, once again. Without access (to safe medication) there is simply no such freedom."

A few hours after the rally at the Supreme Court, two Oregon doctors joined Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Suzanne Bonamici at a gathering at Planned Parenthood of the Columbia Willamette in Portland.

Its chief executive, Dr. Sara Kennedy, explained Rosenblum’s absence and added: “She is doing this important advocacy work to be able to protect and secure access to mifepristone for all Americans.”

Rosenblum had no official role in the oral arguments in the case, known as the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA. The plaintiffs oppose abortion rights, but some justices questioned whether they could demonstrate the immediate personal harm required for legal standing in the case.

But as the eventual result of a countersuit filed by Rosenblum and Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson in a different U.S. District Court, the justices put a stay on decisions by a federal judge in Texas and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The judge in Texas barred the drug altogether, pending appeals; the appeals court did not go that far, but sought to suspend mail delivery and telehealth prescriptions. Neither decision went into effect.

A federal judge in Washington state ruled in the Oregon-Washington countersuit that the FDA had to continue its policies pending the outcome of the challenge.

After the rally, Rosenblum attended the "America Votes" state summit along with James, who addressed the attendees. Also in attendance was Barbara Smith Warner, executive director of the National Vote at Home Institute, and a state representative from Portland from early 2014 until the end of 2022.

pwong@pamplinmedia.com