US seeks to stay abortion pill ruling while it appeals
2023.04.10 15:02
© Reuters. A patient prepares to take mifepristone, the first pill given in a medical abortion, at Women’s Reproductive Clinic of New Mexico in Santa Teresa, U.S., January 13, 2023. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. government on Monday filed an emergency motion to stay a judge’s decision to revoke the Food and Drug Administration’s 23-year-old approval of the abortion pill mifepristone, saying the ruling reflected a “misguided” view of the drug’s safety.
In a filing with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, the Department of Justice said the judge’s ruling was “especially unwarranted” because it would thwart the FDA’s scientific judgment and severely harm women, especially those for whom mifepristone is a medical or practical necessity.
“The district court upended decades of reliance by blocking FDA’s approval of mifepristone and depriving patients of access to this safe and effective treatment, based on the court’s own misguided assessment of the drug’s safety,” the Justice Department said.
Monday’s filing came three days after U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Amarillo, Texas, said the FDA had exceeded its authority by ignoring mifepristone’s risks and relying on “plainly unsound reasoning and studies” when approving it.
Kacsmaryk, an appointee of Republican former President Donald Trump, stayed his ruling for seven days to allow the Biden administration time to appeal.
The Justice Department asked that a stay be entered by April 13, and that it remain in place until all appeals, including if necessary to the Supreme Court, are resolved.
Lawyers for the anti-abortion groups that challenged the FDA’s approval of mifepristone did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Kacsmaryk ruled just 18 minutes before a federal judge in Washington state issued a contradictory ruling that directed the FDA to keep the drug available in 17 states in that case.
The conflicting rulings could foreshadow a resolution by the Supreme Court, which last June overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that eliminated a constitutional right to abortion.
The Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority. The 5th Circuit also has a conservative reputation, with three-quarters of its active judges appointed by Republican presidents.
