Washington Gov. Jay Inslee stockpiles abortion pills in 'resistance' to potential second Trump presidency

In preparation for “The resistance to a new Trump administration,” Washington’s Democratic Governor Jay Inslee is stockpiling abortion pills. After the US Supreme Court ruled against a challenge to the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) regulatory approval process of the chemical abortion drug Mifepristone, leaders of the Democratic Party are preparing in case a new Trump administration rescinds the approval or uses the 1873 Comstock Act to criminalize mailing the drug across state lines. 

In an article titled, "The Resistance to a New Trump Administration Has Already Started," The New York Times reported, "The Democratic governor of Washington State, Jay Inslee, said he had secured a large enough supply of Mifepristone pills to preserve access for women in his state through a second Trump administration. The supply is locked away at a state warehouse."

According to the outlet, Inslee is "one of at least five Democratic governors who have established stockpiles of Mifepristone to guard against the possibility of any Trump administration using federal power to stop its interstate distribution. The others are the governors of California, Massachusetts, New York and Oregon."

Inslee told The Times, "We have it physically in the state of Washington, which could stop him and his anti-choice forces from prohibiting its distribution. It has a life span of five or six years. If there was another Trump administration, it’ll get us through." This is despite Trump previously stating that he would leave the issue of abortion to the states. The former president has also shown support for a 15-week abortion limit and Mifepristone can be used to abort a pregnancy up to 10 weeks.

The outlet noted that leftist groups seem to have little faith in President Joe Biden winning re-election due to his low poll numbers. The Times reported that a liberal group called Democracy Forward has “developed a 15-page threat matrix that covers issues including abortion, health care, climate, civil rights, environmental protections, immigration and the 'weaponization of government,'" and has "begun recruiting sympathetic plaintiffs who would have legal standing in court."