The decision is scheduled to take effect in seven days, and it is not ordering a permanent blocking of the medicine, just a suspension while the case plays out.
However, attorneys general from 17 abortion-friendly states and Washington DC had filed a second lawsuit advancing the abortion pill. Shortly after the Texas decision was announced, the judge in that Washington case issued an order blocking enforcement of the Texas decision in the states that are party to the second lawsuit. Moreover, later that evening the Biden administration announced an appeal of the Texas lawsuit, as has the drug manufacturer.
What does this mean?
Well, it means that by next Friday it will be illegal to provide mifepristone in 33 states, including Ohio, unless the Biden administration is successful in its appeal of the Texas decision. This is likely to be an ongoing and contentious battle. Already abortion advocacy groups are releasing their plans to provide the abortion medicine despite the decision, and a member of Congress recently shocked the nation by suggesting that the Biden administration should just determine that the court order is illegitimate and ignore it.
We’ll continue to monitor this case and share updates.
Background
Four health care organizations and four doctors have sued the FDA, claiming that its approval of the chemical abortion drug was illegally approved and that the FDA failed to meet its legal obligation to protect girls and women. The suit claims that the FDA specifically neglected to study the effects of hormone disruption on minors and ignored data from the U.S. and internationally that showed the danger of chemical abortion drugs. The AHM v FDA case only relates to mifepristone in the two-drug regimen for abortion.
What you should know:
The FDA failed to review the safety of the abortion pill regimen.
- The rate of chemical abortion related emergency room visits has gone up more than 500% since Mifepristone was approved. NOTE: Ohio does not currently require hospitals and emergency rooms to report adverse effects that send women to the ER after the abortion pill. Ohio law does require that if the abortion pill providing physician knowns of an adverse impact, including an ER visit, that it be reported to the Ohio Medical Board.
- Peer reviewed research from the Lozier Institute found a 53% greater risk for chemical abortions than surgical abortions.
The FDA made a decision based on politics, not science and facts
- DIY abortion were approved on an expedited fast-track process, citing pregnancy as an “illness.”
- The FDA did not require studies on minor girls before approving the regimen – in violation of its own laws.
- The FDA approved telehealth provision of abortion drugs in 2021, which fails to screen women for conditions like ectopic pregnancies and other conditions that could put them at risk.
The FDA made a reckless decision to allow abortion pills by mail, and it puts women and girls at risk
- More than 60% of women who have abortions report being pressured to have an abortion. Without an in-person visit, women and girls can’t be screened for coercion or abuse. This is even more of a risk when an abuser may be in the room, just off the sight of the computer.
- Pills by mail also make it easier for women to take the abortion pill unknowingly, by being slipped a pill by a partner or parent when they refuse to consent to abortion.