American Women Ensnared in Dueling US District Court Mifepristone Rulings AOC She

Dueling Rulings on Mifepristone

In recent developments, federal judges in Texas and Washington State have issued conflicting rulings regarding the FDA's approval of the abortion pill mifepristone. These dueling, contradictory decisions have left the future of the drug and access to medication-induced abortions uncertain.

The conflicting rulings have created uncertainty surrounding access to the nation's most common method of abortion, which has been approved for use for decades. It is likely that the U.S. Supreme Court will need to resolve these opposing rulings, but until then, the stay of Amarillo, Texas, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ruling expires on Friday.

The Biden administration filed an appeal Monday afternoon, April 10, with the U.S. 5th Circuit of Appeals to keep mifepristone on the market while the appeal proceeds.

Abortion pill distributor Danco Laboratories will likely ask the Supreme Court to intervene if the 5th Circuit does not at least temporarily block Kacsmaryk’s decision, the company’s attorney said.

The Texas decision is scheduled to go into effect on Friday, April 14th.

Undermining the FDA

On Sunday, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra on CNN’s “State of the Union” said that not only is the Texas ruling unlawful, but it threatens the entire process of FDA drug approval.

“First and foremost, when you turn upside down the entire FDA approval process, you’re not talking about just mifepristone,” he said. “You’re talking about every kind of drug. You’re talking about our vaccines, you’re talking about insulin, you’re talking about the new Alzheimer’s drugs that may come on.”

Women’s rights advocates stress that the abortion pill ruling in Texas is overtly targeted at controlling women’s bodies. We agree. But to suggest that the Texas ruling doesn’t threaten to undermine the entire FDA and all drug research in America is naive.

15-20% of U.S. Pregnancies Naturally End in Miscarriage

Medical providers prescribe mifepristone for managing miscarriages, which can be “one of the most difficult times in a women’s life,” according to Secretary Becerra.

When asked, the majority of Americans believe that miscarriages are rare and under 5% of total pregnancies.

Reality is that 15-20% of pregnancies result in miscarriages in America. With women having babies at older ages, the respected Kaiser Family Foundation estimates a miscarriage rate of nearly 30% with women over 45.