What are abortion pills and why are they important?

The FDA first approved Mifeprex in 2000 and a generic version, mifepristone, in 2019. This drug blocks the hormone progesterone, which is essential for a viable pregnancy, and is usually taken in combination with the drug misoprostol to terminate a pregnancy in the first 10 years. the week The pills have been found to be safe and effective in several studies.

Republican Congressman in Roe v. In the nine months since Wade was repealed, nearly a quarter of the country has banned most abortions, often threatening abortion doctors with prison. But a recent FDA decision, allowing the pill to be delivered by mail, has given way to some of those laws and made the pill a prime target for anti-abortion advocates and conservative lawmakers.

Can I still get abortion pills?

yes we Former President Donald Trump’s appointee, District Court Judge Matthew Kashmaric, delayed the effect of his decision for a week, and the Biden administration appealed the ruling on Friday.

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What exactly is this case?

The most important implications of this decision relate to abortion. But legal arguments have focused on the process, and mifepristone received due diligence from the FDA two decades ago.

The Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal group that brought the case on behalf of anti-abortion providers, argued that the FDA overstepped its authority when approving the drugs. Her lawyers argued that the Comstock Act, a 19th-century anti-obscenity law, prohibited the mailing of any drugs used to induce abortions.

What did the judge say?

Kaczmaric ruled that the initial approval of the pills in 2000 and a more recent decision to allow them to be prescribed via telemedicine were illegal.

“The court will not evaluate the FDA’s decision lightly,” he wrote. “But here, the FDA — in violation of its statutory duty to present its legal safety concerns — based its conclusions on unclear reasoning and studies that did not support it. This suggests that the proposed safety measures to improve the FDA’s progress. Faced with significant political pressure to ignore the precautions. The political goal of increasing ‘access’ to chemical abortion. There are also clues – this is the ‘whole idea of mifepristone’.

The judge agreed that mailing the pills violated the Comstock Act, stating that the plaintiffs had “substantial evidence to support their claim that the defendants’ decision to distribute chemical abortion pills through the mail clearly and violates federal criminal law.”

Why did a judge allow a drug 23 years after approval?

“Simply put, the FDA has barred judicial review — until now,” Kaczmaric wrote in his ruling. “Although the statute requires the agency to respond within 180 days of receiving a petition, before the plaintiffs filed this case, the FDA ignored their petitions for sixteen years. The case was filed by the federal government decades ago. was brought to court. Instead, the FDA delayed and adjourned for nearly 6,000 days.

How can a federal judge in Amarillo, Texas ban entry to blue states like California and New York?

Kaxmarek issued a nationwide ban, meaning the nationwide ban will go into effect in a week unless a higher court issues a stay. These types of rulings have become common over the past 20 years, and judges have upheld former President Barack Obama’s plan to grant quasi-legal status to some illegal immigrants and former President Donald Trump’s ban on travelers from certain countries. Ban has been used. During the Bush, Obama and Trump administrations, the Justice Department has argued that restraining orders are overused across the country and “contrary to constitutional limits on judicial powers.”

What happens next?

The Justice Department in New Orleans is the conservative-leaning 5th U.S. An appeal against the decision was taken to the Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday night.

Caxmaric’s decision came the same day a federal judge in Washington state ruled that the FDA was placing too much of a burden on mifepristone. It is the more liberal 9th U.S. District in San Francisco. Dueling Circuit Court decisions can also be appealed to the Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court can hear abortion pill cases.