Miyares defends decision not to join lawsuit challenging safety of abortion pill

Miyares to visit the Shore Monday

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares has defended his decision not to join most of his Republican counterparts around the country in supporting a lawsuit challenging the safety and approval of the abortion medication mifepristone.

In a wide-ranging interview Tuesday with The Associated Press, Miyares said he opted not to sign onto the amicus brief by 22 other Republican attorneys general earlier this year because he had concerns about whether the plaintiffs in the case had standing to sue.

In response to a follow-up question from AP, Miyares said in a statement that he recognizes that the Food and Drug Administration regulates the drug and “has for many years.”

“Those regulations remain operative,” he said. “I’ve taken no action regarding mifepristone.”

Although Miyares said he expects the drug will remain available, he also endorsed GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s ambition to restrict access to abortion procedures in Virginia at 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Virginia currently allows the procedure in the first and second trimesters. An abortion is allowed in the third trimester only if three physicians certify that the mother’s mental or physical health is at serious risk.

Youngkin backed failed efforts earlier this year in the politically divided General Assembly to enact a 15-week ban with exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother, something the governor reiterated his support for in remarks with reporters Monday.

Earlier this week, abortion providers in Virginia, Montana and Kansas filed a lawsuit aimed at preserving access to mifepristone.

Miyares cited polling in arguing that most Virginians don’t want abortion banned during the earliest weeks of a pregnancy, nor do they 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,” he said. “Most Virginians don’t support that, either.”

Democrats say further restrictions on abortion will harm people’s health and limit their rights to make their own reproductive decisions.