Staff Reports
Ken Paxton, Attorney General of Texas, is challenging the Biden Administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) over their directive requiring pharmacies to dispense abortion pills regardless of state laws. On Tuesday, Paxton filed a legal challenge against the HHS, citing the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs which ruled there was no constitutional right to abortion and returned the power to regulate it to the state level.
I'm filing a new lawsuit against the Biden Admin to stop unlawful guidance issued by HHS that would force every pharmacy in America to transform into an abortion-on-demand clinic or face the loss of Medicaid and Medicare funds.https://t.co/Q06mYagrO1
— Texas Attorney General (@TXAG) February 7, 2023
The HHS released the guidance in July 2022, citing federal anti-discrimination laws and warning of the potential loss of Medicaid and Medicare funds for pharmacies that fail to comply. Paxton sees this as a continuation of the Biden Administration’s ongoing opposition to the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health ruling and views their actions as an attempt to intimidate pharmacies nationwide by using the threat of federal funding cuts.
In his statement, Paxton declared, “Texas and several states across the country have dutifully passed laws to protect the unborn, and we are not going to back down just because unelected bureaucrats in Washington want to create illegal extremist federal policies.” The lawsuit asserts that the administration lacks the legal power to enforce its radical abortion agenda, which undermines pharmacies’ obligation to abide by Texas law.
Paxton’s lawsuit is filed as a judgment is anticipated in another significant abortion case, Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in a Texas district court. In the case, the plaintiffs argue that the FDA lacks the power to endorse mifepristone, one of the drugs utilized in chemical abortions, which accounts for over 50% of yearly abortions in the U.S.
The HHS has yet to provide a response for comment on this matter. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is determined to fight for what he believes is right and protect the unborn. He is not backing down from this battle and will continue to fight for states’ rights in this matter. It remains to be seen what the outcome of this lawsuit will be, but it is clear that Paxton is determined to take a stand against the Biden Administration’s HHS guidance.
The preceding article is a summary of an article that originally appeared on The Daily Caller
