The case filed by abortion opponents who helped challenge Roe v. Wade seeks to reverse a decades-old approval by the Food and Drug Administration.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk has not indicated exactly when or how he will rule, but groups like Timmaraju’s are preparing for a possible decision shortly after a Feb. 24 filing deadline. There is scant precedent for a lone judge overruling the FDA’s scientific decisions. A swift appeal of any ruling is likely.
They argue the FDA overstepped its authority in approving mifepristone by using an accelerated review process reserved for drugs to treat “serious or life-threatening illnesses.” Halting access to the drug more than 20 years after approval would be “extraordinary and unprecedented,” federal attorneys stated in a legal filing.
Medication abortion accounted for over half of abortions before Roe v. Wade was overturned, according to research from the Guttmacher Institute. It’s grown more important since then, said Elizabeth Nash, state policy analyst for the science-based research group that supports abortion rights.