A federal appeals court late Wednesday night froze parts of a Texas judge’s order that would have suspended the US Food and Drug Administration’s approval of a medication abortion drug.
But the court only partially granted the request by the Justice Department and the drug’s manufacturer to put US District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s ruling on hold, with the panel effectively making the drug harder to obtain.
Last Friday, Kacsmaryk issued a ruling that would have halted the FDA’s 23-year-old approval of the drug, mifepristone. Under the appeals court’s new order, the approval will stay in effect and the drug will remain on the market while an expedited appeal plays out.
However, the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals is leaving in place parts of the ruling that halted changes the FDA made to the rules around the drug that expanded access to medication abortion pills. Those changes include 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.
Medication abortion, which makes up the majority of abortions obtained in the United States, has emerged a particularly heated flashpoint in the abortion legal battle since the Supreme Court last year overturned Roe v. Wade precedent that protected abortion rights nationally.
When issuing his ruling last week, Kacsmaryk delayed it taking effect by seven days to give the government time to appeal.
It is unclear if the Justice Department or the drug manufacturer, Danco Laboratories, will ask the Supreme Court to intervene at this point. Earlier this week, the DOJ indicated it would turn to the high court if the 5th Circuit did not act by noon CT on Thursday.
In November, anti-abortion doctors and plaintiffs brought the lawsuit…
Read the full article here