Yang Rohr Calls on the Supreme Court to Uphold Access to Reproductive Health Medications

NAPERVILLE, Ill. –  State Rep. Janet Yang Rohr, D-Naperville, is continuing her fight to defend the right to choose by urging the U.S. Supreme Court to preserve access to critical reproductive health medications.

“Mifepristone has been safe, reliable and available to Americans for over 20 years. We need to keep it that way.” said Yang Rohr. “The judge’s ruling restricting access to potentially lifesaving reproductive health medicine is just another example of extremists trying to come between women and their doctors, and I sincerely hope the Supreme Court will instead support the independent, fact-based approval process at the Food and Drug Administration.”

Yang Rohr co-signed an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court urging the high court to reject a right-wing judge’s effort to restrict access to mifepristone, which can be used to end a pregnancy or treat a miscarriage. The judge’s initial ruling not only diminishes a provider’s ability to prescribe mifepristone over the phone, online or through the mail but also lowers the period in which someone can access the drug. Typically, at-home pregnancy tests are reliable after four weeks of a missed menstruation cycle. If the Supreme Court upholds the lower court’s ruling, the time limit would decrease from ten weeks to seven weeks. 

Yang Rohr has a strong history of fighting for the right to choose. She passed the Patient and Provider Protection Act, legislation introduced to counter the Supreme Court’s Dobbs ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade. Additionally, Yang Rohr worked to expand access to emergency contraception, keep sensitive information out of the hands of politicians who seek to prosecute women seeking reproductive healthcare in Illinois and allow patients to receive hormonal birth control over-the-counter.

“While groups across the country erode reproductive freedoms, Illinois continues to lead our nation in a fundamentally better direction,” Yang Rohr said. “Our community is stronger and safer when Americans can make personal, private health decisions for themselves. The Supreme Court should recognize this and reverse the lower court’s harmful ruling.”

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