Two of Polk's US reps sign court brief seeking reversals of abortion medication guidelines

Rep. Scott Franklin, R-Lakeland, and Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Clermont, have signed a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court supporting limits on use of the medication abortion pill mifepristone.

Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal organization, filed the lawsuit on behalf of other groups. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the case starting March 26.

Franklin and Webster joined more than 140 Republicans in Congress in signing a “friend of the court” brief dated Feb. 29. Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Tampa, whose district includes part of Polk County, did not sign.

The lawsuit asks the Supreme Court to halt changes in the use the prescription of the pill that the Food and Drug Administration has made since 2016. Those include an extension of the maximum gestational age to 10 weeks, allowing physician’s assistants and nurse practitioners to prescribe the medication, reducing the number of doctor appointments needed to complete the regimen and allowing providers to prescribe the medication through telehealth and have it delivered by mail.

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“The FDA’s unlawful deregulation of chemical abortion drugs has endangered patient health and safety,” the brief says.

The FDA approved the use of mifepristone in 2000.

A federal appeals court ruled last year that the FDA should revert to its guidelines from 2016. The Biden Administration appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Franklin, Webster seek reversals of guidelines for abortion medication