Attorney General Josh Kaul Tuesday announced he has joined a multistate coalition to challenge the decision issued by a district court judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas that could restrict medication abortion access nationwide. The amicus brief, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, urges the court to stay pending appeal the district court’s ruling, which if allowed to take effect would halt the over two-decade old approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the medication abortion drug, mifepristone. Attorney General Kaul and the coalition of 24 attorneys general warn that revoking federal approval for mifepristone will drastically reduce access to safe abortion care and miscarriage management for millions of people across the country, endangering lives and trampling states’ authority to protect and promote access to abortion. “The months following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade have made it clearer than ever how vital it is for women to have access to the full array of life-saving reproductive health care services—without interference from politicians,” said Attorney General Kaul. “Mifepristone has been used safely for years, and the misguided district court order that would prevent the use of mifepristone must be blocked.” This ruling comes in a challenge brought by anti-abortion groups seeking to revoke the FDA’s approval of mifepristone. On April 7, Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, ordered the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to stay its approval of mifepristone, which happened in 2000. The court’s order does not take effect immediately, as the district court put its ruling on hold for seven days to give the federal government and the drug manufacturer an opportunity to appeal.
