Gov. Kathy Hochul and a group of statewide female leaders are fighting back against the legal challenge to restrict access to the abortion drug mifepristone by mail and changes to the medication's federal approval.

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito issued a temporary stay Friday afternoon — temporarily restoring full access to mifepristone and keeping current federal approvals and rules in place. It will remain in effect through midnight Wednesday as some groups have fought to overturn the FDA's approval of mifepristone, pushing back on scientific data that proves it's a safe and effective medication.

"We refuse to go backwards," Hochul said, standing in the Red Room of the state Capitol on Friday.

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration approved mifepristone 23 years ago, or in the year 2000. 

A U.S. District Court judge in Texas ordered the suspension of the FDA's approval of the drug last Friday. President Joe Biden's administration filed an emergency application requesting the Supreme Court intervene.

"We're sick and tired of men telling us what to do," the governor said. "These anti-abortion extremists all across the nation are energized. They're in power. They think the narrative and the law is now on their side. It may be our bodies, but they say it's their choice."

Abortion access has been an escalating battle since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization case last June.

Justice Alito, who wrote Friday's order, was the Supreme Court justice who wrote last year's opinion that overturned Roe.

"And even when it comes to what the judge in Texas did, questioning the FDA's approval of an abortion medication that was used and safe for 23 years, we, in the state of New York, will make sure that this is available for the women of our state in case that decision stands," Hochul said.

Hochul, the first female governor to lead New York, recommitted to keep $35 million in the next budget for the state Health Department to expand abortion access and support people from other states seeking reproductive health care.

The state will invest an additional $20 million to abortion providers to support access to other abortion drugs and other methods of care depending on the outcome of the case, or if mifepristone is taken off the market.

Planned Parenthood and other reproductive health organizations have urged the governor to increase Medicaid reimbursement rates for abortion care and medication abortion in the next state budget, which legislative leaders continue to negotiate. 

They're also pushing for legislation to be included in the spending plan to create a $50 million Reproductive Freedom Equity grant program under the Health Department to support abortion providers and nonprofits.

It quickly passed the state Senate this session and remains in the Assembly Health Committee.

Hochul on Friday indicated the grant program would not be included in the 2023-24 roughly $230 billion budget.

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.; state Attorney General Letitia James, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and other female leaders from across the state spoke with reporters Friday to reiterate their support for abortion to remain safe, accessible and legal.

They plan to fight for New York to continue to be a safe haven for any person, including from other states, to seek abortion services.

James led a coalition of more than 20 states Friday to file an amicus brief in the Supreme Court case urging the court to keep the FDA's approval in tact and maintain ease of access to obtain abortion medication.

"This was never a debate about science because more than 20 years of medical research has proven that medication abortion is safe and effective," James said.

Gillibrand says overturning Roe denied women the right to privacy. She's concerned the current legal battle involving abortion drugs will pave the way for future challenges against other medications or treatments.

Barriers to access health care most deeply affect low-income communities and people of color.

"We're about to fight this in every court and in every venue that we can find because American women and their families deserve freedom and privacy," the senator said.