A ruling from a Texas judge on an abortion medication could have nationwide ripple effects on women’s health.
Amarillo federal court judge, appointed by Trump, has ruled Friday to stop the use of the abortion drug, mifepristone. The FDA has approved this drug for over 23 years.
Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk wrote in his 67-page decision that the FDA’s approval violated a federal rule that allows certain drugs to be approved in a quicker manner. CBS News reported that his decision was put back for seven days so the government could appeal.
Less than an hour later, U.S. District judge Thomas Rice, an Obama administration-appointed judge in Spokane, Washington ruled in a separate case, preventing mifepristone’s manufacturer from pulling it off the market.
The Mifepristone pill is one of two pills used for abortions. Mifepristone ends the pregnancy and misoprostol is the second pill.
Late Friday night, the Biden Administration said it would challenge Kacsmaryk’s ruling and filed a notice of appeal.
Biden made a comment on the subject, saying that in the case at hand, “the court has replaced FDA as the agency of experts that approves medicines with its own judgment.” The FDA has approved virtually all prescriptions, but if this ruling stands, there would be no FDA-approved drug that is safe from political and ideological attacks.
The lawsuit and the ruling are another step that is unprecedented in taking basic liberties away from women, and risking their health.
Women’s health rights across the United States have been thrown into chaos ever since the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade in June 2022.
The Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative anti-abortion organization, filed a lawsuit in Texas in November 2000. They claimed that the FDA had chosen politics over science in approving the drug, claiming it was not safe. That suit was filed in Amarillo county where only one judge–Kacsmaryk– is assigned cases.
In response, the FDA wrote in a statement to Newsweek that they appealed Kacsmaryk’s decision and “believes patients should have access to FDA-approved medications that FDA has determined to be safe and effective for their intended uses.”
“FDA approved Mifeprex more than 20 years ago based on a comprehensive review of the scientific evidence available and determined that it was safe and effective for its indicated use—medical termination of early pregnancy,” it continued.
The FDA continued, “The approval is based on best science available and was done according to the laws which govern our work.” The FDA stands by its decision that mifepristone, when used in the approved manner for early medical abortions, is both safe and effective.
Merrick G. Garland pledged to protect access to abortion in a Friday night statement.
“The Justice Department strongly disagrees with the decision of the District Court for the Northern District of Texas in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA and will be appealing the court’s decision and seeking a stay pending appeal. Today’s decision overturns the FDA’s expert judgment, rendered over two decades ago, that mifepristone is safe and effective. The Department will continue to defend the FDA’s decision.
Separately the Justice Department reviews the District Court for Eastern District of Washington’s decision in Washington et al. v. FDA.
The Department is committed to protecting Americans’ access to legal reproductive care.”
Kamala Harris, vice president of the United States, tweeted on Saturday her views about the decision.
“Since the Dobbs decision, extremist elected officials have continued to attack reproductive freedom.They have pushed for radical policies: banning abortion in all 50 states, criminalizing doctors, and threatening access to FDA-approved medication. We will not stand for it,” she started.
“This week’s election in Wisconsin reaffirmed what we already know to be true: the majority of Americans believe and agree that every woman—not her government—should have the freedom to make decisions about her own body,” she wrote.