Boxes of mifepristone, the first pill given in a medical abortion, are prepared for patients at Women’s Reproductive Clinic of New Mexico in Santa Teresa, U.S., January 13, 2023.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday asked a federal appeals court to keep the abortion pill mifepristone on the U.S. market as litigation plays out, and indicated that it may ask the Supreme Court to intervene in the case, days after a federal judge suspended the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the medication nationwide.
The DOJ asked the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to block U.S. Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s unprecedented decision by noon Thursday “to enable the government to seek relief in the Supreme Court if necessary.” Kacsmaryk’s suspension of the FDA’s approval of mifepristone is set to take effect on Friday.
The Biden administration’s lawyers said in a filing to the 5th Circuit that “there is no basis for extraordinary nationwide relief that would upend a decades-long status quo.”
“If allowed to take effect, that order will irreparably harm patients, healthcare systems, and businesses,” the Justice Department lawyers wrote in a court filing.
Danco Laboratories, the distributor of mifepristone, also asked the 5th Circuit to block Kacsmaryk’s decision from taking effect, calling it an “unprecedented judicial assault on a careful regulatory process that has served the public for decades.”
“If this Court is inclined to deny the emergency or administrative stay, Danco also requests an administrative stay of at least fourteen days to allow Danco the opportunity to seek emergency relief from the Supreme Court,” the company’s attorney Jessica Ellsworth wrote in a court filing.
When asked whether Danco will stop distributing mifepristone if Kacsmaryk’s decision takes effect this Friday, Ellsworth said the company will consult with the FDA about how to proceed.
“I think there will be some difficult questions that Danco needs to address and some…
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