New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy
Scott Mill | CNBC
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said Wednesday he would consider defying the Supreme Court and continuing to provide mifepristone if the court rules in favor of a ban on the abortion pill.
When asked if the state would prescribe mifepristone following such a ruling, Murphy told MSNBC, “That has yet to be determined.”
“When I say it’s all on the table, Katy, I mean it. That action in general, whether it’s mifepristone, or whether it’s North Carolina or South Carolina or Florida at week six,” he said in an interview with MSNBC’s Katy Tur. also refers to other abortion restrictions at the state level.
“It will cost people their lives. It will cost them their health, it will also cost people their lives, unfortunately women in particular. That’s what’s at stake, we will do whatever it takes to save lives,” said Murphy, a Democrat.
Murphy’s comments came after the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans heard arguments in a case that could result in mifepristone being taken off the market nationwide, including in states where abortion is legal.
Mifepristone, used in combination with another drug, misoprostol, is responsible for about half of all abortions domestically.
The closely watched litigation is likely to end up in the Supreme Court, which intervened last month to maintain the drug’s availability while the case moves through the court system.
