GenBioPro appeals court's decision to allow West Virginia abortion-pill ban

The manufacturer of the generic mifepristone abortion pill filed an appeal on Thursday of a ruling from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

That Aug. 16 decision allowed West Virginia to ban the drug.

The appeal was an expected follow-up to GenBioPro dropping the final count of its case to overturn West Virginia’s telehealth ban of the drug.

“GenBioPro is committed to delivering on our belief that everyone has a right to access evidence-based health care and safe and effective medicines, and that includes medical abortion,” said GenBioPro CEO Evan Masingill said in a statement. “In affirmation of that commitment, we are taking the necessary next step in our ongoing efforts to make mifepristone accessible to all by appealing the decision in our case in West Virginia.”

The company also filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 12 asking for the court to review the ruling.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved generic mifepristone in 2019 and GenBioPro held that the approval should mean the drug is available nationwide. But the appeals court ruled that West Virginia could create laws to regulate public health and morality.

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has vowed to “stand ready to defend West Virginia law to the fullest.”

“West Virginia’s decision to step in where Congress has granted FDA the authority to regulate mifepristone is unlawful and could undermine not only access to medication, but the country’s entire drug regulation system," Morrisey said. "What’s more, decades of science support mifepristone’s safety and efficacy and it is unacceptable that people living in West Virginia who need this basic health care are being forced to travel out of state or forgo care altogether. We look forward to continuing to represent GenBioPro in the further stages of this case.”