A Federal judge in Texas appointed by former president Donald Trump suspended the approval of the use of Mifepristone, which is a common abortion drug used in the United States for medication abortions. The case was one of the most controversial ones as it was closely watched as the case had huge support from people who were against the practice of abortion.
Just hours after the rule regarding the drug came out, another conflicting ruling was issued by a federal judge from Washington states, saying that the Food and Drug Administration should stop initiating any kind of action that could affect the easy availability of the drug.
As the two judgments passed by the courts are contradicting in nature, the future regarding the availability of the drug Mifepristone in the country is currently under question. As the lower courts have failed to arrive at a decision regarding the drug, it is expected that the final verdict in the case will be given by the honorable Supreme Court.
The decision made by the US district judge Matthew J Kascsmaryk from Texas comes in light of the recent lawsuit that was filed against the safety and approval of the drug. The verdict has ordered the PDA to pause the approval of the drug until the ongoing lawsuit regarding the drug is finalized. It should also be noted that the ruling is not immediately put into effect as the judge has given seven days time to the deferral government to appeal for the case.
The federal lawyers representing the FDA are expected to make the appeal as soon as possible.
The president of the United States Joe Biden came up against the judgment passed by the district judge from Texas and stated that his administration would fight against the decision. He stated that if the ruling were to stand, then there would be no prescription that is approved by the FDA that will be safe from these kinds of political and ideological attacks.
Vice President Kamala Harris also expressed her disagreement with the judgment by saying that the judgment threatens the right of women across the country to make decisions regarding their healthcare and also inputting the medication that is prescribed by their doctors.
The Attorney General, Merrick Garland also came up against the judgment from Texas and stated that the justice department strongly disagrees with the verdict in the case and that the case will be appealed to the higher court seeking a change in the verdict. As the judge put a stop to the availability of the drug, this overrides the ruling and judgment of the FDA which stated that Mifepristone is effective and at the same time safe too.
The conflicting decision against the availability of the drug came from the Washington court after the lawsuit was brought up by the Democratic state attorney as they seek to remove all the federal restrictions that existed against the availability of the drug.
While the Trump-appointed judge did put a stay on the availability and distribution of the drug, the judge did no9t go as far as the plaintiff of the case wanted to. The plaintiffs of the case were against the practice of abortion and they wanted the approval of the chemical abortion drug to be withdrawn and the drug to be removed from the list of legal drugs that were available on the market.
As the distribution of the drug was put on astay legally, Joe Biden‘s administration came up against the claims in the case and stated that Mifepristone was a safe and effective drug that is being used by people all over the world. The team also argued that the drug was well supported by science and that the claims against the issues and effects of the drug came very late too. The FDA approved the drug almost two decades ago and the drug was available in the market from then on.
The justice department also came up with the argument that the ruling had a strong reason for questioning the credibility of the FDA, the agency that is responsible for signing off on the safety of food and other edible products that are available for sale in the country.
They also added that putting a stoppage on the distribution of the drug would mean that there would be a surge in the number of abortion cases that depend on the already overcrowded abortion clinics due to the incoming cases from other states where abortion is still illegal.
The drug Mifepristone is also associated with two other different lawsuits in the states of West Virginia and North Carolina where the lawsuit argues to increase access to the drug in these states saying that the laws of these states conflict with that of the federal law.
As the decision regarding the cases from different courts has two conflicting verdicts, it is expected that the honorable Supreme Court will be the final authority to make the final verdict on the case.
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