A federal judge in Texas has ordered a halt to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the abortion pill mifepristone on Friday.
U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk signed an injunction which directs the FDA to halt the approval of mifepristone while a lawsuit challenging its safety and approval works its way through court.
Kacsmaryk stayed the FDA’s approval of the abortion drug, but is giving the federal government seven days to “seek emergency relief from the United States Court of Appeaks for the Fifth Circuit.”
While the federal judge is halting the FDA’s approval of the drug, the plaintiffs, several conservative groups, wanted the approvals of chemical abortion drugs suspended and removed from the list of approved drugs.
DEMOCRAT AGS SUE FDA ON ABORTION MEDICATION RESTRICTION, CLAIM IT’S ‘SAFER’ THAN VIAGRA
The Biden administration is pushing for a district judge to rule in favor of federal approval for an abortion drug, mifepristone, in the name of the ‘public interest.’ (Reuters/Caitlin Ochs/Illustration)
United States District Judge Thomas Rice issued a preliminary injunction barring the FDA from “altering” the current availability of mifepristone on Friday.
Rice made the injunction after attorneys general in twelve Democratic-led states sued the government agency in February, challenging their restrictions on the distribution of the abortion pill. The attorneys general argue that the restrictions aren’t supported by evidence.
The lawsuit filed by Democratic-led states says that mifepristone is “safer than many other common drugs FDA regulates, such as Viagra and Tylenol.”
FDA TO PERMIT SOME RETAIL PHARMACIES TO DISPENSE ABORTION PILLS
Boxes of the drug mifepristone sit on a shelf at the West Alabama Women’s Center in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on March 16, 2022. The pill is used to end pregnancies. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed, File)
Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Vermont, are also included in the lawsuit. All states have Democrat attorneys general.
Doctors and pharmacies currently prescribing and dispensing the pill must get a special certification.
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Doses of Mifepristone, the abortion pill, and Misoprostol, which is taken the day after to cause cramping and bleeding to empty the uterus, are pictured at Dr. Franz Theards Womens Reproductive Clinic in Santa Teresa, New Mexico on May 7, 2022. (Paul Ratje/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The FDA places special restrictions on mifepristone under a safety program that’s intended to minimize the risk of drugs that could be dangerous, but has relaxed restrictions on the drug several times. In January, the FDA allowed certified retail pharmacies to dispense the abortion pill mifepristone.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
