1 in 1 abortion pill suspended by US judge — Photo: Oliver Douliery/AFP Abortion pill suspended by US judge — Photo: Oliver Douliery/AFP
A conservative federal judge on Friday announced the suspension of marketing approval in the United States for mifepristone (RU 486), one of the two abortion pills that in practice prevents its prescription.
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According to the decision of Texas Magistrate Matthew Kacsmaryk, “FDA approval of mifepristone is suspended.” Federal authorities have a week to appeal the measure, which was sponsored by conservative sectors in the country.
In a 67page document, the judge validated most of the arguments in the complaint filed against the FDA in November by a coalition of doctors and antiabortion groups.
Kacsmaryk, who is hearing the case in federal court in Amarillo, Texas, was appointed by former President Donald Trump and ratified by the Senate in 2019. He is a conservative Christian with a personal antiabortion past.
The judge considered studies on the risks attributed to the abortion pill, which are considered by the majority of the scientific community to be insignificant. It also accused the FDA of not following its procedures to pursue a political goal.
The case came to Kacsmaryk’s court through what critics call a “judge buyout,” in which plaintiffs file suits in a jurisdiction where the judge has a history of rulings supporting their cases. US federal judges can make decisions with national legal force.
The suspension of the pill “threatens the rights of women” in the USA, criticized the country’s Vice President Kamala Harris. “This decision opens a new door to politicizing medicine,” tweeted Kathy Hochul, the New York Democrat.
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren stated that “as a result of today’s lawless decision, women may lose access to safe, legal medicine they have relied on for decades.”
Mifepristone is part of a twodrug regimen and can be used in the United States for the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. It has a long history of safety, and the FDA estimates that 5.6 million Americans have used it since it was approved in the 2000s.
The US Department of Justice announced that it would appeal. The government “totally disagrees” with the court’s decision,” said the country’s Attorney General Merrick Garland, noting that it “contradicts the FDA’s opinion, issued more than two decades ago, that mifepristone is safe and is effective”.
All indications are that President Joe Biden’s administration will appeal the decision, which will then be reviewed by a New Orleans Court of Appeals, also known for its conservatism. As such, the case is expected to go to the United States Supreme Court, which has had six out of nine conservative justices since its renewal by Donald Trump.