WASHINGTON — The Justice Department and several Democrat-led states took steps Monday to preserve access to a commonly used medication abortion drug after dueling federal court rulings about its availability.
The moves come as experts expect fast-paced court action that could easily head to the Supreme Court as soon as this week on the Food and Drug Administration’s approval and regulations of mifepristone, which was first approved in 2000 to end pregnancies.
On Friday, Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas suspended the FDA approval of mifepristone in an order that would stop the manufacture and distribution of the drug this Saturday.
