Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. (D-Sag Harbor) issued the following statement after the Supreme Court on Friday preserved women’s access to a drug used in the most common method of abortion, rejecting lower-court restrictions.

Assemblyman Thiele said, “In a rare show of respect toward fundamental human rights, the United States Supreme Court has rejected District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s attempt to institute a nationwide ban on mifepristone, a commonly used abortion medication confirmed to be safe and effective. The ban would have restricted the freedom of millions of Americans to make their own health care decisions. It truly says a lot that removing access to this medication was a step too far for the same extremist Supreme Court that overturned Roe v. Wade, taking away a constitutional right that had been federally protected for decades.

As our basic ability to access reproductive health care remains under attack across the country, I will keep working to ensure our most essential freedoms are protected in New York. To that end, I helped pass legislation last week guaranteeing all enrolled SUNY and CUNY students access to abortion medication on campus (A.1395-C). Additionally, a new law will protect abortion providers in New York against charges sought by other states for simply caring for their patients (Ch. 101 of 2023). In the face of this constant assault on our rights and values, I am ready to stand up and fight back to keep New York a safe harbor for all who believe patients and doctors should be in charge of life-changing health care decisions – not the government.”