By Rebecca Shabad -
NBC News
The Justice Department filed a petition with a federal appeals court on Monday to block a Texas judge's ruling last Friday that jeopardizes nationwide access to a key abortion pill, mifepristone.
The Joe Biden Administration asks the Fifth Court of Appeals to suspend the ruling of federal judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, appointed by former President Donald Trump, to allow the case to be processed in the appeals process.
[Federal judge suspends FDA approval of abortion pill mifepristone, second judge contradicts]
Kacsmaryk's ruling "goes against decades of stability by blocking FDA approval of mifepristone and depriving patients of access to this safe and effective treatment, based on the court's own misassessment of the drug safety," Justice Department lawyers wrote in court documents.
Mifepristone and misoprostol pills in a medical abortion clinic.
Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune via Getty Images file
The Justice Department promptly notified the Fifth Circuit late Friday that it would appeal the ruling.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that Kacmaryk's “decision overturns the FDA's expert judgment, issued more than two decades ago, that mifepristone is safe and effective.
The Department will continue to defend the FDA's decision."
The FDA approved mifepristone in 2000 to terminate pregnancies up to seven weeks.
In 2016, the agency expanded that regulation to allow its use in pregnancies up to 10 weeks.
It is used in combination with a second drug, misoprostol.
To further complicate matters, a federal judge in Washington state issued a preliminary injunction in a different case Friday that prohibited the FDA from "disturbing the status quo and rights regarding the availability of mifepristone."
That ruling applies only to the 18 liberal-leaning states that filed a lawsuit in February challenging FDA regulations on the drug.
The Government seeks to avoid the ban on the abortion pill with a tough battle in the courts
April 9, 202301:56
