Josh Stein Still Fighting for Control of SBOE. Bless Him!

 

Dallas Woodhouse

Gov. Josh Stein is suing the GOP-controlled General Assembly over its last-minute seizure of the State Board of Elections, which they gave lock-stock-and-barrel to their new bestie, Dave Boliek, the brand new State Auditor and conservative fan boy. ("There's no fanatic like a new convert.") The General Assembly pulled off the blatant power grab between Josh Stein's landslide victory over Mark Robinson on November 5th, 2024, and the swearing in of Josh Stein as our 76th governor on January 1st, 2025. Now that's hustling for any deliberative body (maybe not so much for one in lockstep like the Berger/Moore congregation was).

Very shortly after Stein whupped Robinson, GOP lawmakers introduced Senate Bill 382, cleverly attaching Hurricane Helene relief to their plan to sneak in provisions stripping the governor's control of the State Board of Elections, among other things. (They also took powers from Attorney General Jeff Jackson and other members of the Council of State.) Gov. Cooper, still in office, vetoed S 382. Republicans overrode. Immediately, the new czar of elections, Dave Boliek, hires extreme partisan Republican hit-man Dallas Woodhouse to "teach" local county boards of election how best to suppress the vote. The very recent elimination of three university polling sites testifies to Woodhouse's malign presence. 

Of course Stein took it to court, and he won at the trial court level. A panel of three superior court judges agreed that the section of S 382 taking powers from the executive was unconstitutional. The Court of Appeals -- dominated 12-3 by Republicans -- quickly stepped in and blocked that ruling, allowing the law to take effect on May 1st.

Stein is right now back in court asking a new panel of Appeals Court judges to overturn previous court orders that allowed Boliek to take over elections board appointments last spring.

Kyle Ingram was there in court February 10th -- yesterday -- to hear the arguments, and he captured the essential gist:

Attorneys for Stein argued that the power shift — which transferred appointments to Republican State Auditor Dave Boliek — sets a dangerous precedent for separation of powers, wherein the legislature can consistently reassign responsibilities to whichever executive office holder agrees with their policy preferences.

“The legislative position is that there are no limits on their power to assign executive duties on the Council of State,” Eric Fletcher, a lawyer for Stein, said. “They say that they can assign, tomorrow, election administration to the Commissioner of Agriculture. That they can send agricultural policy to the Commissioner of Insurance. And they can assign road-building to the Superintendent of Public Instruction.” 

Attorneys for legislative leaders argued that it was within the General Assembly’s duty to reassign executive powers as they please, so long as the powers in question are not explicitly assigned in the constitution.

The three judges hearing the arguments: John Arrowood (D), Valerie Zachary (R), and April Wood (R). Wanna guess how invested in partisanship those two Republican judges are?

Berger-Hall to Josh Stein: "Pound Sand"

 

Photo Galen Bacharier, NC Newsline

Reportedly, in its last enacted budget Republican state lawmakers shorted the Medicaid program by around $319 million for the current fiscal year. As a result, Josh Stein's Health and Human Services (HHS) has resorted to cutting Medicaid reimbursements 3% to most hospitals and clinics (and up to 10-12% to "specialty providers"). Primary care doctors, dentists, community care clinics, nursing homes are all dependent on Medicaid funding. 

On Nov. 6, Governor Stein called a special session of the General Assembly for Nov. 17 to deal with that funding crisis. The state constitution gives the governor the power to summon lawmakers back to Raleigh to deal with emergencies (and you see where parsing that word will end up in court, right?). At a news conference, Stein said legislators had “failed North Carolina and the people of North Carolina” by not addressing the Medicaid shortfall during their October session -- which was largely devoted to once again redrawing the state’s congressional districts to add an extra Republican to Trump's tote board.

Yesterday, in a joint letter to Stein, House Speaker Destin Hall and Senate boss Phil Berger said they would not convene a session on Nov. 17, and claimed that Stein’s call for a special session "is constitutionally invalid and politically motivated."

Politically motivated. I certainly hope so!

Both chambers of the General Assembly are controlled completely by the GOP. Same party, but two equally immovable factions, fighting over the lucre. Leaders in both chambers have acknowledged the underfunding of Medicaid, and both chambers have written their own budget solutions in separate versions of a bill that was supposed to be blended and amended into a single unified budget law months ago. That didn't happen. There is no budget. North Carolina is now alone among all the fifty other states in the absence of one.

Berger-Hall

Can Berger-Hall just refuse to convene? You know it'll be litigated, and it'll be nobody's surprise when the current NC Supreme Court under Chief Justice Paul Newby rules for the General Assembly. Newby's going to love Berger-Hall's argument that Governor Stein's HHS made premature cuts to reimbursements as a means of exerting political pressure on the General Assembly. 

Josh Stein fired back at Berger-Hall: "The Republican majority has made the time to damage our democracy with their gerrymander. But when it comes time to protect people’s health care? When it comes time to enact a comprehensive budget? They’re on vacation, and they’ll see us next year. All while North Carolina families pay the price."

As far as I'm concerned, of course it's political, and it gives Stein the upper-hand here, the high ground, the advantage, because he is taking extraordinary action to stave off major damage to health care in North Carolina, while Berger-Hall just look like jerks, self-serving and out of touch with reality. So rather than asking, "Can they do that-- just refuse to come when summoned?" I should be asking the other question, "Why would they want to do that?" Because refusing to deal with the shortage of money that goes to help a whole community of need just helps build the bad, bad Republican brand of failing its own struggling MAGA base. 

Some Good News (For a Change) About the Canton Paper Mill Closing

 

Thanks to Michael McElroy, reporting for Cardinal & Pine:

Pactiv Evergreen closed the Canton paper mill in 2023, a year and a half earlier than the company had agreed to under an economic development deal with the state that included millions of dollars in incentives.

The closure laid off more than 1,000 employees, causing economic ripples in Canton and Haywood County.

Then attorney-general Josh Stein sued the company in 2024 for $12 million, accusing it of breaching the terms of the deal. Under the terms of the settlement announced this week by Stein, now the governor, and current Attorney General Jeff Jackson, Pactiv will repay $5.75 million from its incentives to Canton and Haywood County.

Coverage by Cory Vaillancourt in Smoky Mountain News.

This Is What Ray Pickett and the Rest of the NCGOP Will Cut in Half

 

The GOP in the General Assembly Once Again Shrug-Off Hurricane Helene

 

Gov. Stein in Boone recently.
Noah Williford, The Appalachian

Just happening in North Carolina: For the second time in three months the Republican bastards in the General Assembly (the new team of Berger/Hall) have proposed much less -- about half of what Western North Carolina needs for recovery from Hurricane Helene and half of what Governor Stein requested for our devastated region -- Berger/Hall say $500 million should be enough, instead of the requested and badly needed $1 billion.

To recap the first General Assembly diss of our ravaged counties, here's Thomas Mills:

In December, when Roy Cooper was still governor, the legislature went back into session, supposedly to address the needs of hurricane victims. Instead, they used the time to strip power from Democrats who won seats on the Council of State in November. They shuffled money around from existing funds but refused to allocate additional resources to the region.

As Republican Representative Mark Pless told The Assembly at the time, “The disaster portion of it doesn’t do anything …. [I]t was just moving money from one account to another without actually appropriating it for anything.”

Stein's request included grants to businesses wiped away or severely damaged by Helene, but Berger/Hall's bill prohibits grants to businesses. Bastards. I know of at least one thriving landscaping business in western Watauga that was totally wiped out -- greenhouses, equipment, plants, the whole livelihood. FEMA does not give disaster money to businesses. It's up to the state. And those Republican SOBs think they can get away with turning their backs on some 30 majorly Republican counties they consider "theirs."  

At least Gov. Stein engineered a public-private fund of some $30 million to help businesses specifically, but that's a mere drop in the bucket. A small Kubota front-end loader, back-end digger will run you over $80,000.

Doran's Crystal Ball

 

Destin Hall

Enjoyed Will Doran's forecast of what to watch most closely in Raleigh this year, with so many new characters running things, from the governor's office to the House speakership, to that pesky extra-Dem in the House who gives Josh Stein his best chance for a sustained veto (supposedly gives Stein that advantage, because there's always also Cecil Brockman to watch). 

Doran mentions a rather bold gesture of Governor Stein's -- a very public "olive branch" of bi-partisanship. The governor invited several Western Republican lawmakers on stage with him last week in Asheville when he was signing executive orders about Hurricane Helene, and he appointed Republican Sen. Kevin Corbin from Macon Co. as co-chair of a new committee Stein created to advise the governor’s office on Helene recovery needs. I hadn't picked up on that, and it looks like a good move.

Doran's background on medical marijuana legalization in North Carolina is interesting -- let alone the truly hilarious notion of "recreational marijuana." Legalizaion has been stopped cold repeatedly in the NC House, after the state Senate had passed legalization several times. "House leadership" won't countenance it, Doran says, and former Speaker Tim Moore would never let it come to a vote, apparently fearful he didn't have the majority of his caucus with him. Will the new Speaker (and comparative youngster) Destin Hall do better?

What Doran explores about a Trump immigration pogrom and its ramifications for the state's economy is also worth quoting at length:

Immigration could also require attention at the legislature. Trump has pledged a mass deportation of immigrants in the country illegally, and some conservatives are also now pushing to reduce the number of visas given for immigrants to work here legally. Either strategy would disrupt the local economy and potentially drive up inflation: Approximately 1 million immigrants live in North Carolina, many of them employed in large industries such as agriculture, construction, tech and health care.

The GOP is becoming increasingly torn between more populist voters in the party base and pro-business interests among the major party donors — and the question of how to handle immigration is just one area in which 2025 could bring clashes between those opposing factions.

 Will Doran reports regularly for WRAL in Raleigh.

Josh Stein Turns First to Hurricane-Ravaged Western NC

 

Thursday, on his first full day in the office of governor, Josh Stein came to downtown Asheville and signed five executive orders to shore up, expand, and facilitate more aid to citizens wiped out or badly damaged by that notorious Lady of the Night Helene.

His Executive Order # 1 wiped away red tape for the immediate purchase of up to 1,000 "transportable temporary housing units" by the Department of Public Safety for deployment in the disaster counties.

Stein also gave power to the Division of Emergency Management to contract with certified vendors to repair private residential structures and roads, one of the greatest needs in the mountains.

Additional orders created the Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina (GROW NC), a dedicated recovery office, and established a Division of Community Revitalization within the Department of Commerce to address housing needs and "community resilience."

Stein and Cooper Sue To Block S 382

As expected, North Carolina Governor-elect Josh Stein and Gov. Roy Cooper filed a lawsuit yesterday to block S 382, the new Republican devilment shifting executive power in government to Republican hands, particularly the administration of elections.

The new law’s changes “undermine the results of the election” and “violate the separation of powers,” Cooper and Stein argue. “It’s fundamental to our constitution that the legislature can not both make the laws and then choose the leaders who enforce them,” Cooper said. “Breaking the executive branch chain of command in law enforcement or any other executive branch agency is unconstitutional and it weakens our ability to respond to emergencies and keep the public safe.”

The Bastards in Raleigh

 

The elections which Republicans did not win in North Carolina -- governor, lieutenant gov, attorney gen'l, superintendent of public instruction -- have hardly been settled, including the one that broke the Republican veto-override super majority in the NC House, when Phil Berger & Co. realized they only had a month to pass a new law limiting what newly elected Democrats can do in office. They cleverly called the bill "Hurricane Relief," but those provisions aimed at recovering Western NC amount to less than 20 pages, while the bulk of the 130-page bill is blatant and unashamed power-grabs.

The most egregious of the power grabs applies to the governor's power to appoint the State Board of Elections, the agency which the GOP has been trying to take full control of for years. The new law, which passed the House last night and now goes to the Senate today -- fast-tracked, you betcha! -- takes the appointment power away from Governor Josh Stein and gives it to the newly elected Republican Auditor Dave Boliek, who's all too eager to carry partisan water for the bosses.

The new law also makes a project of dismantling the independence of our new Attorney General Jeff Jackson:

Republican lawmakers want to prevent the attorney general, an office that the GOP hasn’t won in an election for more than a century, from taking positions on state laws being challenged in court that are different from the position maintained by GOP legislative leaders. 

The bill also specifies that the attorney general can’t take positions in court that would lead to a state law being struck down. 

This proposal comes as outgoing Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein, who voters chose to serve as the state’s next governor in this month’s election, has recused himself or refused to defend the state against a number of high-profile political lawsuits involving abortion, elections, gerrymandering and other issues. 

Stein, who has served two terms as attorney general, has defended his decisions to refuse to defend laws passed by the Republican-controlled legislature that he believes are unconstitutional. 

GOP leaders have criticized Stein in those instances, and accused him of refusing “to do his job.” They have frequently intervened in lawsuits challenging the laws they’ve passed, and defended them in court. 

Liz Barber, the director of policy and advocacy at the ACLU of North Carolina, said in an interview Tuesday morning that the changes were an “unconstitutional, undemocratic power grab.” [NewsObserver]

In what crazy universe is it all right for the Republicans to be doing this? Reducing the dimensions of a public office only after they fail to win an election to that office?

Let the lawsuits fly.

GOP Attempts Again To Grab All the Access to Voting

 

Hilarious. No matter how much power you've got, you can always choke down some more. Kyle Ingram, reporting Tuesday morning, November 19

RALEIGH Draft legislation from North Carolina lawmakers proposes stripping incoming Democratic Gov. Josh Stein of all appointments to the State Board of Elections and giving them to a newly elected Republican official.

If I were cynical enough to make this up, I would have.

Will Josh Stein Join the Resistance?

Reid J. Epstein, in the NYTimes:

In the first of what is likely to be several groups that sprout to resist the next Trump administration, two Democratic governors announced on Wednesday that they were forming a group to help protect state-level institutions of democracy.

The group, Governors Safeguarding Democracy, is meant to serve as a mechanism for Democratic states to coordinate efforts to oppose the right-wing policies of President-elect Donald J. Trump.

Its leaders, Govs. JB Pritzker of Illinois and Jared Polis of Colorado, are among a group of ambitious Democrats likely to try to fill a party-wide leadership void once President Biden leaves office.

“Donald Trump is going to bring people into his administration who are absolute loyalists to his cult of personality and not necessarily to the law,” Mr. Pritzker said. “Last time, he didn’t really know where the levers of government were. I think he probably does now. And so I think that the threat remains great.” ...

...the group’s top staff member, did not say how many governors had agreed to join the organization.

No Debate Between Josh Stein and Mark Robinson

 

Bryan Anderson is reporting this morning that Josh Stein turned Mark Robinson down flat for a debate, once Robinson had a (panicked) change of heart and more or less demanded that Stein debate him, probably because Robinson is trailing Stein about 10 points in the polls. A debate would give Robinson much greater exposure than his usual hang-outs in churches and good-ole-boy eatin joints.

“I’m challenging you to a debate right now, Josh Stein,” Robinson said in a video posted on X. “Come on down. Let’s do this mano a mano and let’s get it done.”

Hours later, Stein’s campaign announced there’d be no debate with Robinson.

“A debate would only serve to legitimize him and provide a platform for his vile and dangerous rhetoric, and we won’t be part of that,” said Kate Frauenfelder, a Stein spokeswoman.

Stein’s apparent change of heart might reflect a growing body of polls showing him leading Robinson by about 10 percentage points.

Gary Pearce, a retired Democratic political operative, said he’d advise Stein not to debate Robinson.

“I don’t think [debates] matter much, don’t think that many people watch, don’t think undecided voters are watching it, and I don’t think you ought to give a platform to people who lie and spew hate and bigotry,” Pearce said.

Thomas Mills had also posted just this morning that Stein need not throw Robinson a "lifeline" by debating him. 

This New Josh Stein Video Will Air During the Olympics

 

Featuring Debbie Dalton of Cornelius, who voted for Donald Trump in 2020.

Josh Stein Needs To Get Out More

 

Headline in today's News and Observer: "Outspoken vs. Unknown: What Some Rural Voters Think of NC Gubernatorial Candidates." Guess who's the unknown one. Reading the article one realizes how counter-productive Stein's very limited campaign-in-public strategy has been. He only attends carefully controlled events and fundraisers where the crowds are mainly friendly or at least house-broken.

Those of us who follow North Carolina government obsessively know our Attorney General Josh Stein well. Stein led other states' attorneys general in establishing a framework for exacting payment from the nation's drug companies and distributors for the opioid epidemic. He was the first attorney general in the country to sue e-cigarette manufacturer Juul for unlawful marketing to minors. He's been a champion for consumers and a hawk pursuing price-gougers, especially like the tow company in Charlotte that hiked prices and fees during COVID. He has at times refused to defend the Republican General Assembly's unconstitutional laws, and he's been a champion of women's rights.

But as the McClatchy reporters found out, too many people have no idea who he is. Meanwhile his opponent for governor, the robust Mark Robinson, struts his bully stuff in all kinds of rural churches, which delights the vengeful Christians in the pews. Maybe Josh lacks "the common touch" and that's why his handlers keep him sequestered, but he's either gonna have to get out more or his tv budget is going to have to lower Robinson's approval rating much more definitively.

A.G. Stein Wants the State's Money Back from Pactiv

 

Here's the thing about government/business partnerships, or rather very generous grants by local governments to entice (or keep) big problem-causing polluters in their communities ... for jobs, of course. At least that's the claim (or dodge) for striking sweetheart deals with big companies that lack ethical moorings.

Background

The sudden closing in 2023 of Pactiv Evergreen, the 115-year-old paper pulp mill in Canton, N.C., that used to be famous as Champion International down in Haywood County, but which had taken a few bad turns and by 1999, had become the property of its workers (as "Blue Ridge Paper") in an employee buyout. That didn't entirely blossom. In 2006 the plant sold again to Evergreen Packaging, or rather merged with Blue Ridge Paper to form Pactiv Evergreen, the entity that pulled the rug in 2023, announcing its imminent closing to some 1,000 workers and a town without a tax base now or possibly a future. 

In late 2014, Gov. Pat McCrory had signed an agreement between the state of North Carolina and Pactiv Evergreen, granting the company $12 million from the state’s Job Maintenance and Capital Development Fund (JMAC), if it kept its total employment at 800, at least through December 31, 2024. That didn't happen. Pactiv put all its workers on the street more than a full year before that deadline.

Attorney General Josh Stein just sued Pactiv on behalf of the state for breach of contract and wants that $12 million back.

"Taxpayers in North Carolina invested in Pactiv Evergreen to bolster our state’s economy,” A.G. Josh Stein said in a release. “We held up our end of the bargain, and we cannot let Pactiv cut and run away with our state’s money."

Stein said he had tried to work with Pactiv, but the company's dump-and-run intransigence led to the lawsuit Stein filed in Wake Superior today. 

More Primary Results -- NC Council of State

 

Governor

Democrat Josh Stein crushed challenger Mike Morgan with almost 70% of the vote. Stein did considerably less well in Watauga, where almost 30% of voters preferred Morgan.

Republican Mark Robinson easily beat Dale Folwell and super-litigator Bill Graham, taking almost 65%. 

Rachel Hunt

Lieutenant Governor

On the Democratic side, Rachel Hunt (yes, of those Hunts) took 70% statewide (a whopping 86% in Watauga).

On the Republican side, Deanna Ballard was one of over a dozen contenders. She came in last night 3rd, just missing the opportunity to be in the runoff with top vote-getter Hal Weatherman by some 8,000 votes. So Weatherman will face instead former prosecutor Jim O'Neill in the runoff.  O'Neill came close to beating Josh Stein for A.G. in 2020.

Attorney General

Jeff Jackson took almost 55% of the vote statewide against two competitors. He took 77% in Watauga.

Commissioner of Insurance

On the Democratic ballot Natasha Marcus buried David Wheeler.

Republican incumbent Mike Causey, who's been tagged with controversy and scandal, took over 60% of the vote on the Republican ballot and will face Marcus in November. He's a ripe target for a negative campaign, which I think David Wheeler would have delivered with gusto. Marcus, not so much. Gives Causey a distinct advantage in November.

Commissioner of Labor

On the Republican ballot, Luke Farley, endorsed by yesteryear's horror story Cherie Berry, won outright with almost 37% of the vote against NC House honcho Jon Hardister. Hardister has been infamous in these precincts as a twerpy sort of snake in the General Assembly, so .... schadenfreude.

Superintendent of Public Education

On the Democratic side, Maurice (Mo) Green won with almost 66% of the vote.

On the Republican side, right-wing fright Michele Morrow beat incumbent Catherine Truitt by some 36,000 votes. Morrow has been quite an outspoken and outright enemy of public schools, calling them "indoctrination centers" and urging her followers not to send their children there. She's endorsed by Moms for Liberty. Truitt has been a target of the MAGA right for not being bullying enough to root out "diversity" and "inclusion" in all its demonic manifestations.

Treasurer

Democrat Wesley Harris easily beat his rival Gabe Esparza.

Race Apprehension

 

"For a party that heavily relies on Black votes and campaigns as a champion of civil rights, these are not ideal optics."

--Lucille Sherman and Jeffrey Billman, "Josh Stein's Challenge With Black Voters," The Assembly, February 26, 2024

 

Lord, it hurts, but Sherman and Billman pressed their hard index finger right into the tightest muscle:

"This year, Democratic party elites have rallied not just behind Josh Stein for governor but also Jeff Jackson, Rachel Hunt, and Allison Riggs in their bids for attorney general, lieutenant governor, and Supreme Court justice, respectively. All are white and have Black primary opponents. The likely outcome is that Democrats will have a lily-white statewide ticket in November, while state Republicans will be led by Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who wants to become the state’s first Black governor."

That's a bad enough summation, but Sherman and Billman pile on the insights and opinions of Black political operatives who say the atmosphere has soured for Black voters who generally vote Democratic.

Collette Alston, chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party’s African American Caucus, said she only remembers Stein showing up “whenever it was time for us to vote for him. There was no other time that there was a visit or any other kind of correspondence or anything. We haven’t seen Josh Stein out in public, around North Carolina, nowhere near as much as we’ve seen Michael Morgan” -- Stein's chief rival in the primary whom the African American Caucus endorsed.

Morgan Jackson, Josh Stein's
political advisor

It's not just Stein's aloofness that's a problem. Preacherly Mark Robinson's hellfire denunciations of queers appeals to elderly Black men, who do vote. Alston went straight to "culture" to explain Robinson's potential for earning Black votes:

“Within our culture, especially in the South, we’re gonna go to hell for certain things, because of our religious thoughts,” Alston said. “Mark Robinson can placate that type of voter. Black men can feel more empowered. And plus—he’s Black. And, you know, that’s what I’m afraid of.”

Not to worry, sez Stein's chief political guru, Morgan Jackson. Jackson runs Stein’s campaign and downplays the concerns raised by Collette Alston. Jackson and other Stein supporters believe that "every Black voter Robinson peels off will be offset by suburbanites turned off by Robinson’s rhetoric."

Dawn Blagrove, director of the civil rights group Emancipate NC, said she’ll vote for Stein if he’s the Democratic nominee. But “there is nothing about his tenure as AG that will make me, as a social justice advocate, excited about seeing him move to the governor’s mansion.”

We Live in Interesting Times

 

Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan posted this yesterday morning:

Former North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Michael Morgan, who just stepped down from the court last week, has entered the Democratic primary for governor in 2024. 

His candidacy upends a primary that thus far had just one candidate, Attorney General Josh Stein — long considered the heir apparent to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. 

But Morgan says he has a better chance of winning the general election.

Full disclosure: I've given money to the Josh Stein campaign. 

A Resignation at the NC Supreme Court

 

Democratic NC Supreme Court Justice Michael Morgan has announced that he will be resigning from his seat the first week of September, which will allow Governor Roy Cooper to appoint a Democratic replacement to serve out the rest of Morgan's term and be better positioned to run for reelection in 2024.

"Morgan, a North Carolina native who spent most of his childhood in New Bern, has served for more than three decades in the state’s judicial branch. He was an administrative law judge, a Wake County District Court judge and a Superior Court judge before joining the state Supreme Court in 2016." (NandO)

Morgan has suggested that he may be interested in running for governor in 2024, which would force a primary with Attorney General Josh Stein, who is the only Democratic announced candidate at the moment.

Josh Stein Won't Defend State Restrictions on Abortion Pills

 

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein won't defend state restrictions on dispensing abortion pills that are being challenged in a lawsuit and instead will argue the restrictions are preempted by federal regulations protecting access to the pills, Stein's office said Monday.

The decision by Stein, a Democrat, means Republican legislative leaders who want to keep the restrictions would have to seek to formally intervene in the federal lawsuit, which was filed by Amy Bryant, a physician who prescribes the drug mifepristone.

The lawsuit filed in January in U.S. District Court in Durham, and a separate lawsuit challenging limits on abortion pills in West Virginia, are considered the openings of legal battles over access to the medications. A Texas lawsuit poses a threat to the nationwide availability of medication abortion, which now accounts for the majority of abortions in the U.S. The case filed by abortion opponents seeks to reverse FDA approval of mifepristone.

Bryant's lawsuit seeks to block enforcement of state laws and rules that it says interferes with the ability to provide mifepristone to patients. The lawsuit cites the authority that Congress gave to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to regulate the FDA-approved drug.

Source: WRAL