NJ governor would consider defying Supreme Court on mifepristone ban

Recent Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Wednesday said he would consider defying the Supreme Court and proceed to offer mifepristone if the court rules in favor of a ban on the abortion pill. 

When asked if the state would prescribe mifepristone after such a ruling, Murphy told MSNBC: “To be determined.”

“Once I say all the pieces is on the table, Katy, I mean that. This motion generally, whether it’s mifepristone, or whether it’s North Carolina or South Carolina, or Florida at six weeks,” he said in an interview with MSNBC’s Katy Tur, also referring to other abortion restrictions on the state level. 

“That is going to cost peoples’ lives. It may cost them health, it is also going to cost peoples’ lives, women specifically sadly. That is what’s at stake, we’ll do whatever it takes to save lots of lives,” said Murphy, a Democrat. 

Murphy’s remarks come after the U.S. fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Recent Orleans heard arguments in a case that would force mifepristone off the market nationwide, including in states where abortion is legal. 

The case hinges on whether the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the abortion pill needs to be rolled back.

The closely watched legal fight is more likely to wind up on the Supreme Court again, which already intervened last month to maintain the drug available because the case makes its way through the court system. 

Even when the high court rules in favor of a mifepristone ban, Justice Samuel Alito has suggested the FDA could refuse to comply with it.

Alito said in a dissent last month that the FDA could use its enforcement discretion because the litigation played out and permit Danco Laboratories, the manufacturer of mifepristone, to proceed distributing the abortion pill.

Mifepristone, used together with one other drug, misoprostol, accounts for about half of all abortions domestically.