Federal Judge In Texas Suspends FDA Approval Of Abortion Pill Used In Up To Half Of

A federal judge in Texas moved to suspend the FDA’s approval of the abortion pill mifepristone, while another federal judge in Washington released a conflicting ruling that keeps the pill widely available. 

The rulings on the abortion pill, which is used to end the life of an unborn child in about half of all abortions, could be headed to the Supreme Court even as the Biden administration plans to appeal the Texas judge’s ruling. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk said that the FDA had moved too quickly to approve the chemical abortion pill without sufficient testing. 

“Simply put, FDA built on its already-suspect 2000 Approval by removing even more restrictions related to chemical abortion drugs that were present during the final phase of the investigation. And it did so by relying on studies that included the very conditions FDA refused to adopt,” the judge said. 

The Biden administration will have a week to appeal the decision, which sided in favor of the Alliance of Hippocratic Medicine and other pro-life groups who were represented by lawyers with the Alliance Defending Freedom. 

“Pregnancy is not an illness, and chemical abortion drugs don’t provide a therapeutic benefit—they can pose serious and life-threatening complications to the mother, in addition to ending a baby’s life. The FDA never had the authority to approve these hazardous drugs and remove important safeguards,” said ADF Senior Counsel Erik Baptist. 

The decision was widely praised by pro-life groups.

“The abortion pill destroys a growing human being. The drug kills the preborn child by starving him or her of the vital nutrients needed to grow. This decision restricting the abortion pill will save children from the violence of chemical abortion and will allow them to enjoy their constitutional right to be born and live,” said Lila Rose, the founder and president of Live Action. 

However, Kacsmaryk’s decision became legally murky almost immediately as U.S. District Judge Thomas O. Rice ruled the FDA must still allow the drug in 17 Democratic-led states that had brought a lawsuit concerning the chemical abortions. 

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In the meantime, President Joe Biden has promised to fight the Texas ruling. “My administration will fight this ruling,” Biden claimed.  “The lawsuit, and this ruling, is another unprecedented step in taking away basic freedoms from women and putting their health at risk.”