(Just The News) A federal judge on Friday suspended the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, effectively stopping sale of the drug nationwide.
Mifepristone is one of two drugs necessary for a sort of abortion cocktail that allows recipients to terminate a pregnancy via pill. The second drug, misoprostol, is available through a traditional prescription. The FDA in January announced a regulatory change to permit major pharmacy chains to carry the drug in stores as opposed to mail-order pharmacies or select clinics.
Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk on Friday suspended the FDA’s approval of mifepristone outright. The case had been brought by the Alliance Defending Freedom, which asserted that the FDA did not fully review safety risks associated with the drug before its formal approval in 2000.
Kacsmaryk’s ruling gave the government one week to appeal.
“The FDA’s approval of chemical abortion drugs over 20 years ago has always stood on shaky legal and moral ground, and after years of evading responsibility, it’s time for the government to do what it’s legally required to do: protect the health and safety of vulnerable women and girls,” the ADF declared in March. ” As we stated in court, the FDA never had the authority to approve these drugs and remove important safeguards, despite the substantial evidence of the harms women and girls who undergo this dangerous drug regimen could suffer.”
