Federal appeals court partially blocks Texas judge’s order on abortion pill
Conrad Hoyt
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A United States appeals court froze part of a Texas judge’s order late Wednesday night that would have suspended the Food and Drug Administration’s authorization of the abortion drug mifepristone.
The court only partially granted the Justice Department and the drug manufacturer’s request to put U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s ruling on hold, with the panel limiting access to the drug, per CNN. Mifepristone was the first drug commonly used to terminate a pregnancy through 10 weeks and is involved in roughly half of abortions nationwide.
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Last Friday, Kacsmaryk sided with anti-abortion groups by ruling that the FDA’s decades-old approval of mifepristone should be suspended. The decision gave the Biden administration a week to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit and will not go into effect until then.
In his 67-page ruling, Kacsmaryk, appointed by former President Donald Trump, 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.
He also criticized the lack of testing for “under-18 girls undergoing reproductive development” and suggested the agency had bowed to political pressure to approve the drug.
Soon after Kacsmaryk’s ruling, Washington-based U.S. District Judge Thomas Rice issued a ruling directly contradicting it, holding that mifepristone is safe. The Washington ruling ordered the FDA to make no changes to the availability of the drug.
The Justice Department subsequently asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit to stay the order pending appeal. The Biden administration appealed the Texas decision to the 5th Circuit, a court that is dominated by appointees of Republican presidents.
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The 5th Circuit is leaving in place parts of Kacsmaryk’s ruling that halted changes the FDA made to the rules around the drug that expanded its access, according to CNN. These included the FDA’s end of the requirement that mifepristone be picked up in person, the agency’s approval of a generic version of the drug, and adjustments the FDA made to the label instructions for the drug’s use.