After a nearly four-hour federal court hearing in Amarillo, Texas, about the safety and approval of a common abortion pill, a judge presiding over the trial appeared receptive to claims the drug wasn’t properly vetted.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk seemed open to the argument that the drug mifepristone, which is the first drug used to induce an abortion, had not been properly vetted when it was approved in 2000, a claim the Food and Drug Administration, along with other leading health organizations, strongly disputes.
FOUR THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT MAJOR TEXAS COURT CASE AGAINST ABORTION PILL ACCESS
“The court will issue an order and opinion as soon as possible,” Kacsmaryk said.
Just got out of the Amarillo courthouse: Kacsmaryk appeared to seriously entertain claims that mifepristone is unsafe — and asked plaintiffs for guidance on whether his court could order the FDA to withdraw approval. Wow.
Story with @PerryStein @amarimow https://t.co/OrUn3Ya4TL
— Caroline Kitchener (@CAKitchener) March 15, 2023
A reporter who was at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas tweeted throughout the hearing on Wednesday that “Kacsmaryk appeared to seriously entertain claims that mifepristone is unsafe,” adding that he asked attorneys for the plaintiffs whether he could come up with an “analogue where courts have intervened in such a way” over two decades after a drug has been approved.
“No, I can’t,” said Erik Baptist, an attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom. Baptist added that people spent years attempting to challenge the drug’s approval outside of courts and through the FDA directly.
The highly anticipated hearing marked the largest legal case against abortion practices since the Supreme Court’s 6-3 Republican-appointed majority overturned Roe v. Wade last year, allowing states to impose laws severely restricting or prohibiting such procedures.
The lawsuit stems from the Texas-based Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine and other religious doctors suing the FDA in November, asking for a preliminary order halting the sales of the drug while their lawsuit plays out through the federal court system.
By filing the lawsuit in Amarillo, where the ADF had been incorporated just three months before, the plaintiffs were able to guarantee their case landed before Kacsmaryk, an appointee of President Donald Trump who served as a deputy general counsel to the First Liberty Institute, a firm that has represented a multitude of Christian plaintiffs in First Amendment cases all the way up to the Supreme Court.
“The FDA’s approval of chemical abortion drugs over 20 years ago has always stood on shaky legal and moral ground, and after years of evading responsibility, it’s time for the government to do what it’s legally required to do: protect the health and safety of vulnerable women and girls,” Baptist, ADF’s senior counsel, said in a statement after the hearing Wednesday.
If Kacsmaryk were to issue a nationwide injunction against the drug, the Biden administration is likely to appeal that decision swiftly, which will then carry the case up to the Republican-majority U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.
However, some legal experts have speculated the judge could seek a narrower route by prohibiting the drug from being sold in the state of Texas alone.
Abortion rights groups say any ruling that cuts off access to the drug would pose a threat to women’s ability to access abortion nationwide.
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“As a physician, it is my ethical duty to ensure that care is safe, patient-centered, and accessible. Attacks like this on a critical and safe medication make my job and that of other compassionate health care providers much more difficult,” said Dr. Bhavik Kumar, medical director for primary and trans care at Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast in a media call Wednesday after the hearing.
The hearing comes just months after the FDA expanded access to mifepristone, allowing retail pharmacies to get certified to dispense the drug to women who have a prescription from a qualified health provider. Walgreens and CVS have since indicated they intend to seek approval to dispense the drug in certain locations.
