A Texas judge could force a major abortion pill off the market
In “A Trump-appointed Texas judge could force a major abortion pill off the market,” NPR’s All Things Considered reports on a lawsuit filed by anti-abortion advocates against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS), which may remove the abortion medication mifepristone from the market in all 50 U.S. states. The Center’s Senior Counsel Jenny Ma was interviewed for the article. Ma said the outcome of the suit could amount to a “nationwide ban on medication abortion” with a greater impact than the Dobbs ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.
That ruling “left the decision about abortion up to the states,” Ma said, “but this would be one court in Texas deciding whether or not medication abortion could be allowed across this country, even in states that have protected abortion since the Dobbs decision.”
Read more about the case.
Nationwide Threat to Medication Abortion
Anti-abortion advocates sue the FDA to remove an abortion medication in all 50 states.
The article points out that medication abortion is the most common way that people terminate pregnancies, and it is increasingly relied on by people with limited access to abortion care due to state laws or geography. Mifepristone was initially approved by the FDA in 2000—more than two decades ago—and has a well-documented safety record.
Ma stressed that because this is a federal case, the impact could be felt nationwide, not only in states with abortion bans.
“After Dobbs, it almost seemed like there were two Americas—where abortion access was allowed in some states and not in others,” Ma said. “This would amount to a nationwide ban on medication abortion, and patients who seek this care would not be able to get this care from any pharmacy, or any prescriber or any provider.”
After briefing in the lawsuit is completed on February 10, the court could issue its decision at any time.
Read or listen to the NPR piece here:
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