Texas Judge Makes Abortion Pill Sales Illegal Nationwide

What’s the story?

• District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk suspended the approval of the abortion pill mifepristone — technically making its sale illegal in the U.S. — in a groundbreaking legal decision in Amarillo, Texas, on Friday.
• In Jan., the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) changed its regulations to allow pharmacies to obtain certification to offer abortion pills for the first time in the country’s history, increasing access for women nationwide. The decision provoked a dozen states to pass laws limiting the sale of the pills.

What was the legal reaction?

• Immediately after the decision in Texas, Obama appointee District Judge Thomas Rice in Washington issued a contradictory ruling, ordering the FDA not to make any changes to mifepristone access across seventeen Democrat-led states. 
• The Department of Justice is seeking an emergency stay of Kacsmaryk’s order from the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which would stop the order from taking effect until the court hears a full appeal. Both rulings were issued before the cases were heard, making them preliminary injunctions.
• The White House’s Gender Policy Council, Inter-Governmental Affairs, and the vice president’s office have held strategy meetings on increasing abortion access for the last few months in anticipation of Judge Kacsmaryk’s ruling.

What are people saying?

• In a tweet, Biden declared the White House’s opposition to the suspension:

“We’re going to fight it. The Attorney General has announced @TheJusticeDept will file an appeal and seek an immediate stay of the decision.”

• Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) opposed the ruling as well:

“It’s not up to us to decide as legislators or even, you know, as the court system whether this is the right drug to use or not. I agree with ignoring it at this point… this thing should just be thrown out quite frankly.”

• Lawmakers like Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) urged Biden to protect the drug’s availability through executive decree.

Ongoing controversy

• The suspension comes in light of a contentious battle over abortion pills since the beginning of the year.
• The abortion pill was banned in Wyoming in March by the state’s Republican-led House.
• In March, Walgreens sparked boycotts and lost a contract with California’s Department of General Services due to their decision not to dispense abortion pills in twenty states, including states where the drug remains legal. 

Do you support the suspension of the abortion pill?

—Emma Kansiz 

(Photo credit: Flickr/Robin Marty)