A Texas federal judge has decided to suspend FDA approval of the abortion pill, banning it virtually across the country. The entry into force of his decision is postponed for seven days to allow the federal government to appeal. Medical abortion, which now makes up the majority of abortions in the United States, has become the new target of pro-life movements after the landmark Roe v. Wade. The lawsuit, brought by a coalition of doctors and anti-abortion groups, argues that the Food and Drug Administration – the agency in charge of drug and food control – did not adequately examine scientific evidence or follow adequate protocols when it approved mifepristone, since ignoring the drug’s safety risks.
A federal judge in the state of Washington, Thomas O. Rice, has ruled in a preliminary ruling that mifepristone, used as an abortion pill, must remain available on the market in at least 12 democratic states, those that have promoted a legal action for its maintenance. The decision – suspended for seven days for any appeals – is opposed to that taken shortly before by another federal judge from Texas, Matthew Kacsmaryk, appointed by Donald Trump and known for his anti-abortion and anti-Lgbt positions. The legal deadlock could end up in the Supreme Court.
The US Justice Department has announced that it will present an appeal against the suspension of the authorization of mifepristone, a pill used for medical abortions, decided by a conservative federal judge. The government “strongly disagrees with the decision,” Minister Merrick Garland said in a statement. “He will appeal and in the meantime he will ask for a suspension”, he adds, denouncing a decision that “contrasts the judgment of the experts of the Food and Drug Administration (Fda), according to which mifepristone is safe and effective”.
US President Joe Biden has announced his intention to “fight” a federal judge’s decision to suspend the abortion pill in the United States, calling it an “unprecedented attempt to deprive women of fundamental freedoms”.
“My administration will oppose this decision,” Biden said in a statement released by the White House.
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