Mifepristone Case Threatens Health and Safety of Millions of Patients and to Disrupt Entire Drug Approval Process
Washington, DC — Today, Justice Samuel Alito issued an administrative stay of Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s ruling invalidating the FDA’s approval of mifepristone. This will allow the plaintiffs time to respond to the Justice Department’s request for a full stay of the ruling and for the court to make its decision on the stay request. Not only does the case threaten safe and legal abortion access, but it lays the groundwork for any judge to be able to overrule the evidence-based and scientific FDA medication approval process. The consequences of Judge Kacsmaryk’s ruling will be most detrimental for women of color, people living in rural areas, and poorer Americans who face the steepest barriers to accessing care.
Watch Protect Our Care’s event with legal and public health experts discussing the dangers of Judge Kacsmaryk’s ruling here. In response, Protect Our Care Communications Director Anne Shoup issued the following statement:
“This case is one of the single greatest threats to American health care today. Not only does it seek to undermine patients’ access to safe and legal abortions, but it threatens to throw the entire U.S. drug approval process into chaos. It opens the door to politically-motivated lawsuits seeking to remove or greatly restrict the availability of other safe and effective drugs. If the ruling stands, millions of patients will suffer, and the Supreme Court must issue a full stay of the district court’s decision.”