Texas case could reverse FDA approval for abortion drugs

U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas could rule as soon as Friday on a lawsuit seeking to remove chemical abortion pills from the market. Four pro-life groups and four doctors brought the case against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The case argues the FDA did not have the authority to approve mifepristone and misoprostol for chemical abortions. Mifepristone is the first drug given in a chemical abortion. It stops a hormone that helps pregnancy progress, then misoprostol induces early labor.

What are the pro-life groups’ arguments? The complaint argues the FDA wrongly characterized pregnancy as an “illness” and did not study the drugs’ safety for abortions. The FDA should withdraw its 2000 approval of the mifepristone and misoprostol’s use for abortions, according to the complaint. The groups brought the case in Amarillo, Texas, where it would reach Kacsmaryk, a former Deputy General Counsel for a nonprofit Christian conservative organization. Former President Donald Trump appointed him in 2017.

Dig deeper: Listen to Leah Savas’ report on The World and Everything in It podcast about the abortion pill availability debate.