A federal threat to state abortion safeguards

Opinion editor's note: Editorials represent the opinions of the Star Tribune Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom.

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The state's DFL legislative majority commendably took swift action earlier this year to safeguard Minnesotans' abortion rights after the U.S. Supreme Court's reckless decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Unfortunately, even strong state protections like Minnesota's can still be circumvented by abortion opponents in Congress. Alarming legislation newly introduced at the nation's capitol by a Tennessee House member signals that access to this medical care remains under serious threat and could well hinge on the 2024 election's congressional and presidential outcomes.

Voters ought to be cognizant of that with mere months remaining before the earliest caucuses or primaries to determine the 2024 Republican and Democratic presidential nominees. House and Senate campaigns will soon shift to high gear as well.

The new bill from U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles, a Republican from central Tennessee, makes clear that he and other abortion opponents aren't content to let states set their own abortion policies. His H.R. 5806, introduced on Sept. 28, calls for prohibiting "chemical abortions."

Translation: Ogles is pushing a national ban on prescription drugs taken in pill form that have been used safely and effectively for years to noninvasively end a pregnancy. The two best-known drugs are mifepristone and misoprostol.

The drugs are typically given in combination and are in wide use. Medication abortions account "for more than half of all abortions in the United States," according to the Guttmacher Institute.

Access to mifepristone is already uncertain. Earlier this year, a Texas judge invalidated the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) two-decades-old approval of the drug, concluding the agency's process lacked rigor. The case before him was brought by an anti-abortion organization that incorporated in his district after the Roe ruling — a maneuver suggesting the group went shopping for a friendly judge. Mifepristone, however, remains on the market while the appeals process plays out.

Fortunately, the other abortion pill, misoprostol, can be used alone. "Respected medical organizations like the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Ipas, and the World Health Organization agree that misoprostol-only abortions are a safe way to have a medication abortion," according to a Planned Parenthood brief.

Ogles' bill aims to close off access to this medication as well, plus the use of any other medications for this purpose, taking away for no legitimate reason a safe, noninvasive health care choice for women. Medication abortion has a better safety track record than Tylenol or penicillin.

"If you are sitting in Minnesota, an island of reproductive health freedom, this legislation would take that freedom away. It is important to pay attention to this. It shows what these extreme Republicans would do if they have the power," Sen. Tina Smith, a Minnesota Democrat, told an editorial writer this week.

Ogles, who is serving his first term, has been dogged by news reports suggesting he has exaggerated his credentials. Nevertheless, he has 17 cosponsors on the legislation already — none of them from Minnesota, thankfully. His office did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

With Democrats currently controlling the Senate and the White House, Ogles' legislation stands little chance of becoming reality even if it could pass his chamber. That offers scant comfort, however. Things could quickly change depending on the choices voters make roughly a year from now — Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024.