Today, Utah Attorney General Sean D. Reyes filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court, along with 21 other Attorneys General, in the case of Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v U.S. Food and Drug Administration, urging the Court to uphold the people’s constitutional authority to make laws through their elected officials.
In their brief, the Attorneys General write:
Our Constitution establishes a limited federal government that leaves most power with – and accountable to – the people. Federal agencies present special risks to that design. So when agency action pushes constitutional bounds, this Court’s review of that action is searching – not deferential. The FDA’s actions here push constitutional bounds. Those actions test the separation of powers, sap federalism, and take important decisions from the people. This Court should therefore exercise searching review of those actions and reject the FDA’s plea for deference.
At issue in this case is the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) actions to enact a nationwide elective abortion regime without statutory authority and without regard to the important women’s health, safety, and welfare interests that are the primary responsibility of states. Today, the Attorneys General remind the Court, “Congress has never enacted—and could not now enact—any such policy. Yet the FDA does not just claim authority to impose such a policy. It demands ‘significant deference’ to its actions imposing that policy.”
Utah is joined by Attorneys General from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, and Wyoming in filing this brief.
