Washington D.C., May 11, 2023 / 15:30 pm
While many Republicans are backing a lawsuit to strike down the FDA’s approval of an abortion pill, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares has refused to get involved and is instead defending a more moderate approach in the heavily divided swing state.
Miyares was one of a small number of Republican attorneys general who declined to sign onto a “friend of the court” brief in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA, which is asking the courts to suspend the agency’s approval of mifepristone. The lawsuit argues that the drug was invalidly approved in 2000 by alleging that the agency did not follow proper protocol.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Miyares defended his decision, saying that he is uncertain about whether the plaintiffs have standing to sue. He also noted that polling suggests Virginians are against banning abortions very early in pregnancy but do not support late-term abortions.
“The mainstream Democratic Party’s position right now is: anytime, anywhere up until the moment of birth after the gender reveal, paid for by taxpayers,” Miyares told the AP. “Most Virginians don’t support that, either.”