Federal Judge Blocks FDA’s 2000 Approval of Abortion Pill

AMARILLO, TX – In a significant decision made last Friday, a Texas federal judge issued a 76-page ruling suspending the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of mifepristone, an abortion-inducing drug that has been on the market for more than two decades. The ruling essentially stops the prescription, distribution, and sales of the pills nationwide.

Then, within hours of the Texas decision, a Washington state federal judge in a separate case issued a potentially conflicting 31-page ruling which blocks the FDA from “altering the status quo and rights as it relates to the availability of Mifepristone.” The ruling specifically prevents the FDA from reducing any access to the pills in the more than a dozen states that initiated the lawsuit. The judge rejected a nationwide injunction and said the ruling applies to the plaintiffs that include Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania.