Abortion pill ruling: Texas judge orders hold on FDA approval, but another judge contradicts him
ATLANTA — A federal judge in Texas delivered a major blow to reproductive rights advocates Friday, ordering a hold on the Food and Drug Administration approval of mifepristone, an abortion medication used in the United States since 2000.
The ruling, which does not go into effect for seven days and is being appealed by the Biden administration, could effectively prohibit use of the medication nationwide, including in states where abortion is legal.
But soon after the Texas ruling, a federal judge in Washington state issued a contradictory ruling — ordering the FDA not to make any changes to the availability of the abortion pill.
The dueling rulings set up a largely unprecedented legal battle over the FDA’s rigorous medication approval process. Mifepristone is part of a two-drug combination used in more than half of all U.S. abortions, particularly those conducted early in pregnancy.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump nominee confirmed to the bench in 2019, sided with the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, an anti-abortion group that filed suit in Texas
