On Friday, federal Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk handed down a decision further restricting abortion access nationwide by suspending the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, the most common and safe pill used for medication abortion. Another ruling, from a federal judge in Washington state, ordered the F.D.A. to make no changes affecting the drug’s availability. This sets up a clash in the courts. The judge in Texas has stayed his order for seven days to allow the F.D.A. to appeal.
The same antiabortion extremists that worked to reverse Roe v. Wade are behind this Texas lawsuit, Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. With appeals, it now will move to the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans and then to the Supreme Court. If the ruling is not overturned, it will result in a harmful restriction to abortion access even for people in “blue” or “safe haven” states. Mifepristone, taken with misoprostol, is now used in more than half of all abortions in the U.S.
Since the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision in June, 13 states have banned most abortion procedures and 26 clinics have closed, including the four in Texas managed by Whole Woman’s Health. With the latest ruling in Texas, abortion care could be disrupted more than it already has been.
