Two competing rulings by federal judges are creating confusion around the availability of mifepristone — a key ingredient of abortion pills.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of Amarillo put a hold on mifepristone on Friday, ruling its approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) invalid. He stayed the ruling for one week, allowing the FDA time to file a challenge.
Kacsmaryk’s ruling will “not change anything in Texas” because of the Texas Human Life Protection Act, as previously explained to The Dallas Express by Joe Pojman, executive director of the Texas Alliance for Life.
Less than an hour after Kacsmaryk’s ruling, U.S. District Judge Thomas O. Rice of the Eastern District of Washington ordered the federal government to ensure the drug remains available in 17 states and the District of Columbia.
Supreme Court intervention is reportedly likely due to the contradictory nature of these two decisions.
Rice was appointed by former president Barack Obama, while Kacsmaryk was appointed by former president Donald Trump.
“These restrictions are intentionally creating confusion and limiting our options to a point where we’re being asked to accept whatever abortion option remains available,” said Texas resident Emma Hernandez, an employee of pro-abortion organization We Testify, per AP News.
“As a person who’s had multiple medication abortions, we know that the medication itself is safe and effective,” said Hernandez, per AP News.
We Testify founder and executive director Renee Bracey Sherman said she is “frustrated that access to abortion care is hanging on by a thread,” per AP News.
Meanwhile, those who oppose abortion have expressed support for Kacsmaryk’s decision.
Joe Pojman, executive director of the Texas Alliance for Life, told The Dallas Express, “We applaud the action of the federal court in Amarillo to reverse a two-decades-old decision by the F.D.A. to improperly and illegally approve a chemical abortion drug that puts women’s health and lives at risk.
“We hope that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals will uphold Judge Kacsmaryk’s decision,” he continued. “On the other hand, we believe the order of Judge Rice to keep mifepristone available, at least in 17 states and the District of Columbia, is reckless and dangerous to thousands of women.”
Pojman added that regardless of the court’s decision, he and his organization “remain grateful” for the Texas Human Life Protection Act that “will continue to protect unborn children and mothers from all methods of elective abortion.”
He noted that “Texas provides vast resources for women with unplanned and planned pregnancies through hundreds of publicly and privately funded non-profit organizations and church-based ministries to help them successfully carry their unborn children to term and keep or place the babies for adoption, with services continuing three years after birth.”