Texas challenges HHS guidance that pharmacies can’t turn away people who have a prescription for a drug that may end a pregnancy | Abortion
Texas challenges HHS guidance that pharmacies can’t turn away people with prescriptions for a drug that can end a pregnancy
Posted by laurasmith20200 under Abortion Information
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Texas filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday challenging guidance the Biden administration issued in July asserting that federal law pharmacies are not allowed to turn people away with a prescription for a drug that can terminate a pregnancy.
The case was filed in a division of the Western District Court of Texas, which is almost guaranteed the case will be presented to US District Judge David Counts, a judge appointed by Trump.
Texas argues that the policy violates the Constitution and federal law by using federal health programs to force pharmacies to carry abortion drugs in states where abortion is prohibited.
“By requiring pharmacies that receive Medicare and Medicaid funds – including retail pharmacies operated by the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center – to provide abortifacients when the mother’s life is not in danger, The Pharmacy Mandate overrides Dobbs’ holding that States may regulate abortion and directly violates Texas’ sovereign and quasisovereign authority,” the lawsuit states.
The US Department of Health and Human Services – which issued the guidance and whose head, Secretary Xavier Becerra, is the defendant in the Texas lawsuit – did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.
Texas has sued o threatened to sue among other attempts by the Biden administration to mitigate the fallout from the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization broke precedent protecting abortion rights nationwide.
Abortion medication, a two-pill regimen for ending a pregnancy, has become a particularly acute flashpoint in the post-Dobbs abortion landscape.
