April 13, Rockville, Maryland: On April 13, 2023, in Rockville, Maryland, packages of Mifepristone tablets are on display at a family planning clinic. A federal court in Texas was temporarily stopped by an appeals court in Massachusetts.
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A federal judge in the North Texas District Court ruled that three states can proceed with their attempts to overturn access to abortion drugs.
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Idaho, Missouri and Kansas are seeking to roll back FDA regulations on mifepristone from its current availability to its original regulations from 2000.
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The states joined the case after the Supreme Court ruled last year that the anti-abortion groups who originally filed the complaint lacked the standing to sue the FDA.
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A federal judge in the North Texas District Court ruled that three states can proceed with their attempts to overturn access to abortion drugs.
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Idaho, Missouri and Kansas are seeking to roll back FDA regulations on mifepristone from its current availability to its original regulations from 2000.
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The states joined the case after the Supreme Court ruled last year that the anti-abortion groups who originally filed the complaint lacked the standing to sue the FDA.
Texas’s AmarilloIn Amarillo, Texas, a federal judge made it possible for the attorneys general of three states to contest federal regulations that provide access to abortion drugs.
The injunction was issued Thursday in the Northern District of Texas by Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk.
We know:
After the Supreme Court determined that an earlier version of the case filed by anti-abortion supporters lacked judicial standing, the decision permits Idaho, Missouri, and Kansas to proceed with their efforts to restrict access to the abortion medication mifepristone.
Danco Laboritories, the drug’s maker, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration contended that the states lacked the legal authority to bring the lawsuit to North Texas.
In contrast, Kacsmaryk stated that the “venue remains disputed here and should be properly dealt with at a phase where each party may fully argue the issue.”
According to the state’s case, the medication could only be obtained through in-person visits. Abortion medications are currently available to patients via internet pharmacies and telemedicine appointments.
According to the states’ position, the medication could not be prescribed until three in-person office visits were completed. Additionally, they would like to reduce the drug’s availability period by limiting its usage to the first seven weeks of pregnancy rather than the current 10-week limit.
Supreme Court Ruling
The backstory
The Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine first filed the case in 2022, contesting the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, the approval of its generic equivalent, and FDA decisions that altered the medication’s use.
Kacsmaryk heard that case as well, and after ruling in favor of the groups, the medicine was essentially removed from distribution.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals heard an appeal of the ruling and issued a stay that permitted Mifeprex to remain available on the market but prohibited the sale of generic copies of the medication.
Mifeprex was only permitted to stay in use under the first approval guidelines, which required three in-person office visits, a doctor’s permission, and availability up to seven weeks of pregnancy.
When the Supreme Court approved the FDA and Danco’s request for a stay of the decision, the generic medication and the loosened FDA regulations were permitted to stay in effect.
With Justice Brett Kavanaugh drafting the judgment, the Supreme Court heard arguments in the case in March 2024 and declared in June that the anti-abortion organizations lacked standing to sue the FDA and Danco.
What is Mifepristone?
A medication called mifepristone inhibits the production of progesterone, which is essential for a pregnancy to continue.
It can be used to terminate a pregnancy within the first 10 weeks when combined with misoprostol.
Before the FDA extended it to 10 weeks in 2016, it was first authorized by the agency in 2000 for pregnancy terminations up to the first seven weeks.
The Source: The FDA, the Supreme Court, and court documents in the Northern District of Texas are the sources of the information in this report.
