United States | Mifepristone muddle

A federal judge in Texas rules against a popular abortion medication

The stage is set for a Supreme Court showdown

Lindsay London holds protest sign in front of federal court building in support of access to abortion medication outside the Federal Courthouse on Wednesday, March 15, 2023 in Amarillo, Texas. A conservative federal judge heard arguments Wednesday from a Christian group seeking to overturn the Food and Drug Administration’s more than 2-decade-old approval of an abortion medication, in a case that could threaten the most common form of abortion in the U.S. (AP Photo/David Erickson) — Image: AP

Apr 8th 2023|SAN DIEGO

NINE MONTHS after America’s Supreme Court rescinded the constitutional right to abortion and, in the words of the majority, returned the issue “to the people’s elected representatives”, a federal judge in Texas has grabbed the matter for himself. On April 7th Matthew Kacsmaryk ruled against an abortion medication that has been used by millions of Americans with few complications. He entered a preliminary injunction nullifying the 23-year-old approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of mifepristone, one of two drugs commonly used to end pregnancies in the first ten weeks of gestation.

This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Mifepristone muddle”