WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Texas delivered a major blow to reproductive rights advocates Friday, ordering a hold on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of mifepristone, an abortion medication used in the United States since 2000.
The ruling, which does not go into effect for seven days and is certain to be quickly appealed, could effectively prohibit use of the medication nationwide, including in California and other states where abortion is legal.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump nominee confirmed to the bench in 2019, sided with the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, an antiabortion group that filed suit in Texas last year arguing that the FDA had not adequately studied the safety of the drug before granting approval.
