Just over $10,000 of Maryland’s emergency funding plan will support one contract to purchase 5,000 doses of misoprostol, which is commonly taken with mifepristone to induce the chemical abortion. This drug is not a subject of the lawsuit.
“Reproductive freedom is nonnegotiable,” Democratic Gov. Wes Moore, who serves on the three-member board, said during the meeting. “My administration will continue to defend and protect women’s reproductive freedom and access to essential health care here in the state of Maryland.”
The Maryland Department of Health initially entered into all three contracts in mid-April after the Texas judge suspended the FDA’s approval of mifepristone. In late April, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that the drug can stay on the market while the FDA appeals that ruling.
The department filed its report and its request for the funding approval late “due to insufficient procurement staff,” according to an explanation published in the meeting’s agenda.
Moore said the department needed to move quickly to secure mifepristone because the Texas ruling created an “unnecessary and misguided crisis.” He said the ruling “jeopardized access to this critical drug for women and families here and across the nation” despite being available for decades.
Laura Bogley, the executive director of Maryland Right to Life, told CNA that taxpayers should not be forced to pay for abortion drugs.
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