Texas-based federal judge issues ruling blocking distribution of abortion drug

By 
 April 8, 2023

Pro-abortion Democrats are losing their minds in the wake of what the Justice Department called an "unprecedented" decision by a Texas-based federal judge blocking an FDA approval of an abortion pill that has been used for two decades. 

District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, appointed by former President Donald Trump -- thank God -- ruled that the prescribing and distribution of mifepristone would be banned within seven days.

The seven-day period allows the government time to seek an emergency appeal, and it undoubtedly will.

Abortion is still one of the hottest political topics in the wake of the overturning of Roe v. Wade last year by the conservative majority U.S. Supreme Court.

Dueling legal battles

Roughly at the same time Kacsmaryk issued the bombshell ruling, U.S. District Judge Thomas Rice issued a ruling blocking the Food and Drug Administration from "altering the status quo and rights as it relates to the availability of Mifepristone."

That ruling came about after a coalition of 17 states and Washington D.C. sued to relax the requirements of obtaining the powerful abortion drug.

The Hill noted that the two rulings could clash and ultimately end up in the Supreme Court.

Kacsmaryk, who sided with the anti-abortion groups who brought the first lawsuit, said that the FDA had failed to properly vet the drug's safety, and claims the federal agency rushed it to market at the time.

"The Court does not second-guess FDA’s decision-making lightly. But here, FDA acquiesced on its legitimate safety concerns — in violation of its statutory duty — based on plainly unsound reasoning and studies that did not support its conclusions," Kacsmaryk wrote.

He added: "Why did it take two decades for judicial review in federal court? After all, Plaintiffs’ petitions challenging the 2000 Approval date back to the year 2002, right? Simply put, FDA stonewalled judicial review — until now."

What is the drug?

The Hill noted:

The drug was first approved in 2000, a process that took more than four years. It is indicated for use in abortions up to 10 weeks into a pregnancy. Mifepristone is also used by OB-GYNs to manage early miscarriages.

Of course, in the wake of the overturning of Roe, pro-abortion groups have worked to make such drugs more widely available since they're no longer able to terminate the lives of unborn children, in many cases, in abortion clinics.

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), an anti-abortion group originally filed the lawsuit last November.

The group, and others, have long argued that the drug is still unsafe and can unnecessarily cause severe complications and side effects in the women who take it.

 

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