Over the past week, conflicting rulings from two federal judges have confronted the legality of mifepristone, the most commonly used drug for medical abortions. The first ruling, from a Trump-appointed district court judge in Texas, froze the FDA’s approval of the drug, stating that it should never have been put on the market two decades ago due to bypassed safety concerns. The second ruling, from a Washington state district court judge, ordered that access to the drug should not be hindered by federal officials in any of the 17 Democrat-led states that sued to maintain access to it.
The Texas ruling has since been appealed by the FDA, with the Biden administration announcing they will respect the ruling but fight it all the way to the US Supreme Court. “My Administration will fight this ruling,” the statement read. “The Department of Justice has already filed an appeal and will seek an immediate stay of the decision. But let’s be clear — the only way to stop those who are committed to taking away women’s rights and freedoms in every state is to elect a Congress who will pass a law restoring Roe versus Wade.”
As the rulings currently stand, the abortion drug is still on the market, but an appeals court clarified that the FDA’s recent move to make mifepristone more accessible by prescribing it over telehealth visits and delivering it through the mail has been halted. It is unlikely that any other action will be taken on the ruling until the case is heard before the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Whatever the outcome, the case is almost undoubtedly headed to the Supreme Court. At that point, the Texas case and Washington case will likely be combined and heard before SCOTUS simultaneously.
According to Alliance Defending Freedom, the plaintiff in the Texas case, “by approving chemical abortion drugs, the FDA failed to abide by its legal obligations to protect the health, safety, and welfare of girls and women [emphasis added]. The lawsuit notes that the FDA never studied the safety of the drugs under the labeled conditions of use, ignored the potential impacts of the hormone-blocking regimen on the developing bodies of adolescent girls, and disregarded the substantial evidence that chemical abortion drugs cause more complications than surgical abortions.”
As this pivotal case makes its way through the judicial system, one thing is clear: we are living in a post-Roe America and reclaiming the sanctity of human life, one step at a time. The liberal agenda is not strong enough to overcome the momentum behind this deeply spiritual battle.
