Reports show that a federal appeals court decided that the abortion drug Mifepristone remains accessible in the United States but with severe regulations, such as requiring patients to consult a doctor in person before receiving the medication.
An injunction issued by Texas US District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, which suspended FDA approval of the drug as he hears a suit filed by pro-life groups pushing to ban the drug, was partially stayed by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Louisiana.
Almost immediately after that ruling was issued, the Biden administration and Danco Laboratories, the manufacturer of brand-name mifepristone, filed for an emergency stay.
Kacsmaryk’s ruling essentially reinstated limitations on the drug’s distribution eased in 2016. The appeals court refused to quash those aspects of the order. Limiting its usage to the initial 7 weeks of becoming pregnant from the current 10 and requiring personal visits with a physician to prescribe and deliver the medicine are among the new regulations. Kacsmaryk’s directive went into effect last Friday.
The Biden administration is appealing Kacsmaryk’s ruling. Thus the emergency stay will remain in effect till the 5th Circuit can consider the appeal. A new panel could consider this appeal.
It’s also possible that the government or pro-life advocates may file an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court.
Last November, four anti-abortion medical groups headed by the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine and 4 anti-abortion physicians launched a complaint against the FDA. They say the FDA didn’t properly assess the drug’s efficacy and safety when it authorized Mifepristone in 2000 and that it was given unrestricted access to patients under the age of 18.
According to Kacsmaryk, the anti-abortion groups have a good chance of winning on the merits because the FDA conceded to their legitimate safety concerns when it approved mifepristone, despite the fact that the reasoning behind its approval was flawed and there was insufficient evidence to support its conclusions.
After Kacsmaryk’s verdict, certain states governed by the Democrats started hoarding the medication.
