Biden Admin Fights Back After Judge Halts Abortion Pill - Here's What's Next
The Biden Administration is vowing to fight the ruling of a Texas federal judge suspending the FDA's approval of mifepristone, one of the most commonly used abortion drugs.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk's order to suspend the use of the abortion pill would apply to all 50 states, including those where abortion is currently legal.
But the case is most certainly headed to the Supreme Court.
Alliance Defending Freedom filed the lawsuit and says it's hopeful even though the legal process is far from over. Erik Baptist with ADF said, "We're happy to obtain that preliminary ruling from the district court. But we know obviously, this is not the last stage and the last word on this issue, and we're ready to go to the next stage."
"It was certainly a victory. It is one that we've been praying for for some time," said Kristin Hawkins, president of Students for Life Action.
The Justice Department immediately filed an appeal, and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra says the White House will use "every option" to reverse the ban. "This is not America," Becerra told CNN, "What you saw by that one judge in that one court in that one state, that's not America."
New York Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says the Biden Administration should ignore the judge's ruling. "What they are currently doing is engaged in an unprecedented and dramatic erosion of the legitimacy of the courts," Ocasio-Cortez said.
On the other side, Heritage Foundation scholars Sarah Parshall Perry and Jay Richards issued a statement explaining why the abortion pill is even in the courts, and why the FDA's initial approval was flawed.
"While substantial evidence exists that chemical abortion drugs cause even more complications than surgical abortions, the FDA waived the pediatric study requirement without any explanation whatsoever. From the start, the FDA's lightning-fast approval of mifepristone was nothing but a political power play. For years, it has ignored citizen calls for withdrawal of mifepristone's approval," they said.
Lila Rose, the founder of the pro-life group Live Action, also pointed out, "True healthcare heals. It does not kill. The FDA's decision to approve the chemical abortion pill was egregiously wrong from the outset and has been a grave wound in the soul of our country. Today's ruling is an important step towards protecting women and their preborn children, but the battle does not end here. This decision to pull the deadly drugs will not go into effect for seven days, and we expect that this decision will be appealed by abortion advocates and may ultimately make its way to the Supreme Court."
Meanwhile, at the same time as Judge Kacsmaryk issued his ruling suspending the pill, another federal judge in Washington state ruled the opposite, ordering that the pill must remain available.
This week the focus will turn to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, where the Justice Department will seek a stay allowing mifepristone to remain in use until the Supreme Court issues its expected ruling.
