12 blue states sue FDA, saying it’s too strict in limiting abortion drugs as legal battle over mifepristone heats up | Abortion
12 blue states are suing the FDA, saying it’s too strict in limiting abortion drugs as legal battle over mifepristone heats up
Posted by laurasmith20200 under Abortion Information
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Twelve states led by liberal attorneys general announced Friday that they have sued the Food and Drug Administrationsaying that its limits on mifepristone, one of two drugs used for medical abortion, are too strict.
The suit is a possible hedge by states waiting to see how a federal judge in Texas rules on a lawsuit brought by anti-abortion groups seeking to block the FDA’s approval of mifepristone together. A conflicting decision could mean the Supreme Court will be asked to settle the issue.
“The federal government has known for years that mifepristone is safe and effective,” Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in a statement. “Following the Supreme Court’s radical decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the FDA is now exposing doctors, pharmacists and patients to unnecessary risk. The FDA’s excessive restrictions on this important drug have no basis in medical science.
Mifepristone was first approved in 2000 and drug abortions account for more than half of abortions in the US. It is the first drug, followed by misoprostol, in the drug abortion regimen. Patients and providers must sign agreements stating that the drug will be used to terminate the pregnancy, and pharmacies must have special certification.
The case was filed in federal court in the Eastern District of Washington state. The states in the lawsuit are: Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Vermont.
The final brief was filed in the case in Texas
A lawsuit seeking to block the use of an abortion drug nationwide could receive a preliminary ruling at any moment, after the plaintiffs in the case submitted to the court on Friday their final brief on the challenge.
The lawsuit, filed in November by anti-abortion advocates against the FDA, challenges the two-decade-old approval of mifepristone, the first drug in the medical abortion process.
The ruling by US District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, in favor of the plaintiffs could have far-reaching consequences because medication abortions now make up the majority of abortions obtained in the US.
In the filing filed Friday, anti-abortion advocates reiterated many of the arguments they made in earlier briefs. Its submission means that Kacsmaryk can rule on a motion by the plaintiffs to temporarily block the use of the drug. The judge previously said that once the February 24 filing deadline expires, “briefing on the matter will be closed, absent any ‘extraordinary or extraordinary circumstances.'”
Kacsmaryk, however, can also call for a hearing, or ask for additional responses.
The defendants in the case – the FDA and Danco, which makes mifepristone – have argued in separate court briefs that a decision against approving the drug is unprecedented and would shut down the drugmaker’s business.
Reproductive rights advocates have stressed that a ruling in favor of the plaintiffs would be devastating, with NARAL Pro-Choice America saying in a statement that if the drug is taken off the market, “64.5 million women of the age of reproductive health in the US will lose access to medication abortion care, a major overnight damage increase.”
