Judge Pauses Case to Stop Abortion Pills Until After Election
A federal judge on Sunday paused a lawsuit that seeks to revoke nationwide approval of the dangerous abortion drug mifepristone, delaying any ruling until at least December 1 and after the midterm elections.
U.S. Chief District Judge Reed O’Connor granted a request by the Food and Drug Administration for a stay while the agency continues a safety review of the drug. The Republican attorneys general of Florida and Texas, who filed the suit last December, agreed to the delay.
The case aims to permanently withdraw the FDA’s original 2000 approval of mifepristone and later decisions that loosened restrictions and expanded access, including through the mail.
If the states prevail, the drug would become unavailable in every state, regardless of local abortion laws.
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O’Connor, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, also denied a motion to dismiss filed by distributor Danco Laboratories and manufacturer GenBioPro, which intervened as defendants in April.
The lawsuit is the most sweeping of three federal cases that could restrict nationwide access to the mifepristone abortion pill, one of two drugs commonly used in chemical abortions before 10 weeks of pregnancy. Florida and Texas cite in part the Comstock Act, a 150-year-old federal law that prohibited mailing materials that could induce an abortion. The statute has gone unenforced for decades.
Leading pro-life groups have recently urged U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche to restore that prohibition and halt mail-order distribution of abortion pills.
The FDA began another safety review of mifepristone in June and said the process would take about six months.
Two other cases remain active. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear arguments September 9 in a Louisiana challenge seeking to end Joe Biden’s mail-order abortion rule that allows the drug to be dispensed without an in-person visit. Attorneys general in Missouri, Idaho and Kansas have asked a federal judge to restore pre-2016 rules, which limited use to seven weeks of pregnancy and required three in-person office visits.
