A federal judge on Friday handed another resounding victory to abortion opponents in the United States, withdrawing the marketing authorization of an abortion pill approved for more than 20 years and used each year by half a million Americans.
President Joe Biden said he was determined to “fight” the measure, calling it an “unprecedented attempt to deprive women of fundamental freedoms.”
A decision that applies to the entire country
Ten months after the historic Supreme Court ruling that gave each US state the freedom to ban abortion on its territory, Justice Matthew Kacsmaryk, known for his ultra-conservative views, issued a decision from Texas that was supposed to apply to the whole country.
At the same time, one of his colleagues, located in Washington state, nevertheless considered that the marketing authorization for mifepristone (RU 486), which is used in combination with another label, could not be withdrawn in the 17 Democratic states that they had grabbed him
So it will be quickly up to the Supreme Court, heavily reviewed by former Republican President Donald Trump, to clarify the situation.
One week to appeal
In any case, Judge Kacsmaryk’s decision will not be applied for another week, since the magistrate decided to give the federal government time to appeal. Which shouldn’t take long.
“The Department of Justice strongly disagrees” with the decision, “will appeal … and seek a stay in the meantime,” Minister Merrick Garland said in a statement.
In his 67-page ruling, Judge Kacsmaryk validates most of the arguments contained in the complaint filed in November by a coalition of doctors and organizations hostile to abortion against the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Like them, he takes up the studies on the risks attributed to the abortion pill, although they are considered insignificant by the majority of the scientific community. He also accuses the FDA of not following its procedures to serve a political objective.
“There is evidence to indicate that the FDA faced intense political pressure to waive its safety precautions in order to further the political objective of expanding access to abortion,” he writes.
“This is unprecedented and deeply damaging,” said the powerful family planning organization Planned Parenthood, which runs many abortion clinics across the country.
“We should all be outraged that a judge can unilaterally reject medical evidence” to contradict the FDA, added its president, Alexis McGill Johnson, who stressed that this decision could have consequences “far beyond abortion.”
“An unprecedented decision”
Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris also criticized “an unprecedented decision that threatens the rights of women across the country” and worried about the consequences for other cancer or diabetes drugs.
Elected Democrats in Congress, for their part, focused their criticism on Judge Kacsmaryk: “an extremist judge” for his former House leader Nancy Pelosi, a “rogue judge” for his successor Hakeem Jeffries.
Appointed by Donald Trump, Matthew Kacsmaryk was a lawyer for a Christian organization before taking office in Amarillo, Texas, where he is the only federal judge. By filing a complaint in this city, opponents of abortion were sure that the case would come back to him.
Friday, they did not hide their joy. The group SBA Prolife America hailed “a victory for the health and safety of women and girls.” Its director of Political Affairs, Katie Glenn, said she was “watching closely” the second ruling, “but we are hopeful that the dangerous disregard for the lives of women shown by the FDA for two decades will soon be corrected.”
A process that could take months
Even if the court finally suspends the FDA’s authorization, it would likely be several months before its decision is enforced. According to experts in health law, the drug regulator must follow a strict procedure before withdrawing the authorization of a product.
Women and doctors could also turn to a second pill, misoprostol, the use of which is now combined with mifepristone for greater efficacy and less pain.
“We will not allow this unfair decision to impede access to abortion pills”, which by “alternative routes” can “always reach your mailboxes”, has already indicated Elisa Wells, founder of the Red Plan C Information on abortion pills.
Source: BFM TV
