Justice Department appeals abortion drug ruling

The Biden administration raced to get its appeal filed the next business day after a federal judge in Texas rescinded the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the drug mifepristone on Friday. The judge said the FDA did not follow the steps needed to ensure women’s safety when it first approved the abortion drug over two decades ago. The Biden administration also asked a judge in Washington state to clarify a contradictory ruling saying the FDA should keep access to mifepristone the same.

How soon will we know the result? The judge in Texas set his ruling to take effect this Friday if a higher court does not intervene. The Justice Department filed its appeal with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but the Supreme Court could take up the case on an emergency basis before it’s heard there.

Dig deeper: Read Leah Savas and Addie Offereins’ report in WORLD Magazine about retail pharmacies getting into the abortion business.