04/10/2023

Dueling Decisions on Abortion Pill in a Divided Nation

Conflicting rulings could reshape abortion access

The stakes were high — a federal judge in Texas, known for his antiabortion views, was presiding over a lawsuit seeking to undo government approval of a key abortion drug and block access to the medication in every state.

The Democratic attorney general in Washington state, Bob Ferguson, launched a counter move, suing the federal government to increase access to the same abortion drug.

The legal maneuvering played out in dramatic fashion Friday evening: Less than an hour after U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk, a nominee of President Donald Trump, blocked approval of the abortion drug mifepristone by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. District Judge Thomas Rice, who was nominated by President Barack Obama, ordered the FDA to preserve “the status quo” and retain access to the medication in 17 states and the District of Columbia.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Washington Post.