A Texas judge found that the Federal Drug Administration improperly approved the sale of an abortion pill and he has given the government seven days to seek legal relief.
The order is a blow to pro-abortion advocates.
Federal Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk issued a stay against the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, but the government will be given a week to file an appeal to the Fifth Circuit Court.
The lawsuit was filed in November by a group arguing that the FDA had insufficient grounds to approve the use of the drug over two decades ago. Mifepristone is the most common form of abortion in the U.S., but providers have already switched to a different drug in anticipation that it might be banned.
If the case is appealed after the Fifth Circuit Court, it could be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Abortion advocates like the Guttmacher Institute excoriated the decision.
“An anti-abortion judge in Texas just ruled in the lawsuit challenging FDA approval of mifepristone. Our experts are reviewing the decision and will have more soon. This case is a frontal attack on a drug used in more than half of all US abortions,” read a statement from the institute.
“Who should be in charge of whether you can access needed health care: an extremist MAGA judge, or your doctors and the FDA?” tweeted activist Laura Packard.
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts also criticized the decision in a string of tweets, noting angrily that the judge had been appointed by former President Donald Trump, a Republican.
“One Trump-appointed judge in Texas thinks he knows better than decades of scientific evidence and ruled to block access to medication abortion nationwide. Because of today’s lawless ruling, women could lose access to a safe and legal medication they’ve relied on for decades,” she tweeted.
Here’s more about the abortion pill:
Texas abortion pill case holds nationwide implicationswww.youtube.com
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