AOC calls on Biden administration to ‘ignore’ Texas abortion pill ruling
Cami Mondeaux
Video Embed
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) denounced a Texas judge’s decision to halt the approval of an abortion pill, calling on the Biden administration to “ignore” the ruling altogether.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ruled on Friday to halt the FDA’s approval of mifepristone until a lawsuit challenging the safety of the pill can be resolved, effectively banning the sale of the abortion pill across the country. The Biden administration announced it would appeal the decision, but some Democrats are calling on the president not to enforce the ban.
TEXAS JUDGE SUSPENDS FDA APPROVAL OF MAJOR ABORTION PILL
“The interesting thing when it comes to a ruling is that it relies on enforcement,” Ocasio-Cortez told CNN. “And it is up to the Biden administration to enforce, to choose whether or not to enforce a ruling.”
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) echoed similar sentiments, arguing the FDA has the “authority” to disregard the judge’s ruling.
“There is no way this decision has a basis in law,” Wyden said in a statement. “It is instead rooted in conservatives’ dangerous and undemocratic takeover of our country’s institutions.”
The ban on mifepristone is not set to take effect for another week, giving higher courts time to consider the Biden administration’s appeal. The Justice Department appealed the case to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday night.
Shortly after the Texas decision, a federal judge in Washington State issued a conflicting order that would block the FDA from restricting access to the pills in roughly a dozen blue states that initially filed the lawsuit. That ruling clashes with the Texas decision, making it more likely that the issue could be brought to the Supreme Court.
The lawsuit to ban the pill was filed shortly after the Supreme Court’s decision last June to overturn Roe v. Wade, which opened the door for red states to enact sharp abortion restrictions. Several anti-abortion medical associations argued the FDA went beyond its regulatory authority in approving mifepristone back in 2000.
In his 67-page ruling, Kacsmaryk said the FDA had failed to evaluate the psychological or long-term medical consequences of the pill, which the agency had deemed safe and effective.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The FDA has repeatedly said the abortion medication is a safe and effective alternative to surgical abortions. The American Medical Association, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and other medical associations argued in a court filing that reversing mifepristone’s approval would “cause profound and irreparable harm to patients across the country.”
It’s unclear the scope of the effects of taking mifepristone off the market, though abortion rights groups had previously warned it could force abortion clinics to switch to surgical abortions only, which could inundate many facilities.