Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 7, 2023 / 20:45 pm
A federal judge in Texas issued a much anticipated ruling Friday that, if it holds up in court, could take the abortion drug mifepristone off pharmacy shelves due to safety concerns and in doing so prevent over half of the abortions that take place in the country.
U.S. Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s preliminary ruling found that the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) did not follow proper testing and safety protocols when it approved the abortion drug in 2000. The judge allowed the FDA seven days to appeal his decision, which means the drug will still be available for the time being.
Almost immediately after Kacmaryk issued his decision, a judge in Washington state issued a ruling that the FDA should continue to allow abortion drug to be prescribed, setting up a possible showdown in the U.S. Supreme Court, the New York Times reported.
In ruling for the plaintiff, the Texas Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine’s, Kacsmaryk, who was appointed to the court by then-President Donald Trump, affirmed claims that the FDA ignored its own research and testing standards when approving the abortion drug mifepristone.