Judges issue competing rulings on abortion drug

Unborn babies may have a chance for protection from the most common form of abortion. The Food and Drug Administration’s longstanding approval of an abortion drug has become uncertain after two U.S. district judges on Friday issued conflicting rulings on mifepristone, which is typically used in a regimen with another drug, misoprostol. Drug-induced abortions account for more than half of all abortions in the United States, according to statistics reported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute, which directly polls abortion centers.

What are the details of the rulings? Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk on Friday evening ordered a hold on federal approval of mifepristone, which has been approved by the FDA since 2000. The same evening, Obama-appointed U.S. District Judge Thomas O. Rice essentially ordered the opposite, directing officials not to make any changes to restrict access to the drug.

Dig deeper: Read Sharon Dierberger’s report in WORLD Magazine about how a court challenge could block a major abortion drug.