Justice Department is ‘Vigilantly Monitoring’ Actions That Infringe on Reproductive Rights, Says Attorney General

TIME

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland says the Justice Department is vigilantly monitoring any laws or actions that infringe on federal protections of women's reproductive rights.

Transcript

00:00 Over the past 18 months, the Justice Department has been working to defend the reproductive

00:04 freedoms that are protected by federal law.

00:08 As part of that work, we are continuing to vigilantly monitor state laws and enforcement

00:13 actions that threaten to infringe on women's reproductive rights.

00:18 Last month, we filed a statement of interest in two lawsuits challenging the Alabama Attorney

00:23 General's threat to prosecute people who provide assistance to women seeking lawful

00:28 out-of-state abortions.

00:30 As I said on the day that Dobbs was decided, BEDRA constitutional principles dictate that

00:37 women who reside in states that have banned access to comprehensive reproductive care

00:43 must remain free to seek that care in states where it is legal.

00:48 Our brief explains that the threatened Alabama prosecutions infringed the constitutional

00:54 right to travel.

00:56 It also makes clear that states may not punish third parties for assisting women in exercising

01:02 that right.

01:04 We are also continuing to litigate the suit we brought to ensure that women in Idaho have

01:08 access to the emergency care guaranteed by the Federal Emergency Medical Treatment and

01:13 Labor Act, or EMTALA.

01:17 Idaho's law prohibits abortion even when it is the medically necessary treatment to

01:22 stabilize a patient's emergency medical condition.

01:27 Last week, we filed a brief in the Supreme Court to preserve an injunction that blocks

01:33 Idaho's law to the extent it prohibits doctors from providing the care that is required by

01:39 EMTALA.

01:40 The Justice Department will continue to vigilantly monitor laws and actions that infringe on

01:46 federal protections of reproductive rights.

01:49 And we will take appropriate action to defend those rights.

01:55 We are also continuing to advise federal agencies on legal issues related to reproductive health

02:01 in the aftermath of DOPS.

02:03 And we are defending agencies as litigation arises.

02:06 More than two decades ago, the Food and Drug Administration approved the drug Mifepristone

02:12 as safe and effective to terminate early pregnancies.

02:17 And in an unprecedented decision issued earlier this year, the District Court for the Northern

02:23 District of Texas displaced the FDA's expert judgment and blocked the agency's approval

02:30 of Mifepristone.

02:32 We quickly obtained a stay of that decision from the Supreme Court while the case is on

02:37 appeal.

02:39 And now that the Fifth Circuit has affirmed the District Court's decision in part, we

02:43 are seeking Supreme Court review to ensure that Mifepristone remains available on the

02:49 terms approved by the FDA.

02:52 The Department of Justice will not cease its efforts to preserve access to Mifepristone

02:58 and defend the FDA's expert judgments.

03:01 We continue to work to protect health care providers and people seeking reproductive

03:06 health services.

03:07 We continue to enforce the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, known as the FACE

03:13 Act.

03:14 That law prohibits anyone from obstructing access to reproductive health services, including

03:20 abortion services, pharmacies that provide reproductive health care services, and pregnancy

03:26 counseling services, through violence, threats of violence, or property damage.

03:33 We are working to ensure that prosecutors across the country are equipped to bring FACE

03:39 Act cases, and we have emphasized that Civil Rights Division attorneys are always available

03:45 for consultation and technical assistance.

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