Texas Judge Considers Banning Abortion Pill in U.S.

What's the story?

• Judge Matthew Macsmaryk, an appointee of Trump, is considering revoking the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, a ruling that could have an immediate impact on access to the pill nationwide.
• The lawsuit was filed in November 2022 by a coalition of anti-abortion organizations, The Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine.
• While the pill has been approved for use by the FDA for twenty years, they claim that the FDA did not sufficiently test the safety of the drug before approving its use.
• The Alliance requested a preliminary injunction to take mifepristone off the market while the case proceeds, and this injunction is the subject of the upcoming hearing.
• Around 98% of medical abortions in the U.S. use mifepristone, combined with misoprostol, and there have been 26 deaths associated with the drug since 2000 - a rate of 0.65 deaths per 100,000 medical abortions.
• Medical abortion is already banned in thirteen states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Louisiana, and Texas.

Supporters of the lawsuit

• Julie Marie Blake, from the conservative organization, Alliance Defending Freedom, said she is:

"[C]onfident that when any court looks at the law and looks at the science, it will realise that the FDA has completely failed its responsibility to protect women and girls".

• Kacsmaryk’s decision comes nine months after the Supreme Court overruled the constitutional right to an abortion enshrined in the earlier ruling, Roe V. Wade.
• Judge Kacsmaryk had previously urged attorneys involved in the case not to make the date of the hearing public out of concern for the safety and security of participants.
• Kacsmaryk said:

"This is not a gag order but just a request for courtesy given the death threats and harassing phone calls and voicemails that this division has received."

Kacsmaryk’s anti-abortion record

• Activists are concerned because of Kacsmaryk’s record of conservative decisions when comes to abortion and reproductive rights.
• After his time working as counsel for a Christian organization, Kacsmaryk published articles criticizing abortion rights and same-sex marriage.
• Some advocates have accused the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine of filing their lawsuit in a jurisdiction sympathetic to their cause, in what is known as “forum shopping."
• Cat Duffy, from the National Health Law Program, said:

“In front of another judge, this case would have never seen the light of day and would have been dismissed on procedural grounds.”

Opposition to the lawsuit

• Twelve Democratic-led states have filed a completely different kind of lawsuit against the FDA, seeking instead to make access to mifepristone easier and safer for women. These states include Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, and Washington.
• Biden’s administration has been vocal about their opposition in court filings, stating that mifepristone is backed up by robust research.
• The U.S. Department of Justice said the move to challenge the FDA’s prior approval of a drug is “unprecedented.”
• Duffy said: 

“There’s never really been a case challenging the FDA approval of a drug in this way, when the science is so clear and it’s been on the market for so long and it’s so clearly safe.”

• Protests are expected outside of the federal court of Amarillo, where the proceedings will take place.

What’s next?

• If Kacsmaryk rules in favor of the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, and finds that the FDA did not sufficiently test mifepristone, sales could be halted pending further investigation.
• Clinics would still be able to prescribe misoprostol, one of the pills used in tandem with mifepristone. While less effective than the two drugs combined, it is used in many countries where mifepristone is illegal.

Do you support revoking the FDA's decision on abortion pills?

—Emma Kansiz