A group of at least 17 Democratic attorneys general has formed a “reproductive rights working group” to expand abortion access and crack down on pregnancy resource centers across the country, according to reporting by The 19th, a pro-abortion news source.
The group is being led by Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell. She said on Thursday that the group will serve as a “united effort” to “protect access to abortion across our country.”
In an interview with The 19th, Campbell said that the group held its first meeting this week and had 17 state attorneys general in attendance. She said they plan to use member attorney general offices’ resources to advance “reproductive health care.”
“Every office has different resources and human capital,” she told The 19th. “If we come together across offices in this coalition and working group, we can make sure everyone has what we need as we take on this collective fight.”
Campbell said the group will be prioritizing the use of abortion “shield laws.” These laws provide legal protection to doctors and other entities that provide abortions or mail abortion pills to women in states where they are banned.
Chemical abortion pills now account for 63% of all U.S. abortions. The two-pill regimen works by a pregnant woman first ingesting mifepristone, which cuts off nutrient flow to her unborn baby, and then ingesting misoprostol, which expels the dead child.
Over half of the states in the U.S. have restrictions on chemical abortion pills, while some states — such as Texas, North Carolina, and Arizona — have prohibited mailing the drugs altogether.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, several states have passed so-called abortion “shield” laws. These laws vary in their extent and methods, but Massachusetts’ law is the only one to expressly protect chemical abortion providers from prosecution “regardless of the patient’s location.”
Campbell and the other attorneys general in the group would like to increase the number and scope of these laws.
She also explained that the group is aiming to increase regulation of pregnancy resource centers, like how New York Attorney General Letitia James recently did in her state.
On May 6, James sued Heartbeat International, one of the largest pregnancy center networks in the world, and 11 other New York pregnancy centers. James is claiming that Heartbeat and the other centers are endangering and misleading women by promoting “abortion reversal” pills.
In response, Heartbeat International has sued the New York attorney general and said that they are being “unfairly singled out” solely because they offer alternatives to abortion.
Besides cracking down on pregnancy centers, The 19th said, the Democratic attorneys general group also plans to help attorneys general establish “reproductive justice units” within their offices to focus on providing legal expertise regarding abortion.