FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 13, 2023
CONTACT: Emily Witt (she/hers), [email protected]
AUSTIN, Texas – The Fifth Circuit last night temporarily blocked Judge Kacsmaryk’s ruling to halt FDA approval of mifepristone but left in parts of the ruling that severely impact access to the abortion medication.
The US Department of Justice will ask the US Supreme Court to rule on this matter. A Washington judge has also issued a dueling injunction prohibiting the FDA from pulling mifepristone off the market.
Mifepristone is one of the two drugs typically used to induce a medicated abortion. As of 2020, medication abortion accounts for more than half of all U.S. abortions.
Texas Freedom Network President Val Benavidez (she/her/ella) issued the following response:
“It is extremely important for people to know that Mifepristone is safe and remains available right now. For the past 20 years, Mifepristone has given people the ability to make medical decisions about their own reproductive lives and futures.
“These new attacks on Mifepristone — which has been used safely and effectively by more than five million people and deemed safer than Tylenol — are politically motivated and backed by anti-abortion extremists. While the consequences of this case could be incredibly far-reaching — taking mifepristone entirely off the market nationwide — even in states where abortion is protected, we will not fall into despair. While the case continues to work its way through the judicial system, we will keep collectively building a future that offers us more freedom over our bodies than we have ever known.
“We applaud the quick action from the Department of Justice to seek emergency relief from the Supreme Court of the United States and not allow the current ruling to remain.
“We will never stop fighting for policies that let all people know they are trusted to make their own pregnancy decisions, including choosing the method of abortion that works best for their circumstances. Abortion is healthcare and it should be a protected, accessible right for everyone. We must transform our outrage into action by caring for our communities, channeling our anger to advocacy at the Texas Capitol this legislative session, continuing to fight in the courts, and in Congress for changes that protect and expand our right to abortion — including medication abortion — once and for all.”
Texas laws currently make it illegal for anyone to have an abortion.
