A hearing on the federal judge’s decision to halt the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the abortion drug mifepristone was sought by Democrats on the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce on Wednesday.
In a letter to committee chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Washington, all 23 Democrats on the panel argued that the decision undercuts the FDA’s authority over the drug-approval procedure.
The Centers For Disease Control
According to the MPs, the committee and the general public need to hear from experts on how Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s ruling from last week will affect things. They cite more than a dozen experts in the food and drug legislation who claim that outlawing mifepristone would have “harmful reverberations” that would impact people seeking abortions, medical professionals, and the biopharmaceutical sector.
They stated in the letter that “the Committee and the American people must understand the impact of this decision and what is at stake for not only abortion care, but also for access to necessary safe and effective medications more generally.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, mifepristone, when combined with the medication misoprostol, is the most popular way to end a pregnancy in the United States, accounting for roughly half of all abortions.
Kacsmaryk’s order, which he gave last Friday in U.S. District Court in Amarillo, Texas, sparked a fight between Republican and Democratic lawmakers the day before the letter was sent.
More than 200 Democratic lawmakers requested emergency relief from the decision in an amicus brief submitted to a federal appeals court on Tuesday. According to the brief, which was signed by 190 House members and 50 senators, delaying the order is “necessary to mitigate the imminent harm facing members of the public.”
The congressmen said in the brief that “many more” people depend on the FDA’s control over drug approvals to obtain other life-saving medications and that many people rely on the availability of mifepristone for reproductive care.
A few hours later, 69 Republicans sent a second amicus brief requesting that the appeals court affirm Kacsmaryk’s ruling. The GOP lawmakers claimed in their brief that the agency’s approval of pharmacological abortions was “illegal.” They claimed that when the FDA approved mifepristone in 2000, it did not adhere to the “statutorily prescribed drug approval process” set forth by Congress.
Below we have given a tweet related to abortion pills. You can check below:
On Friday, a Trump-appointed federal judge ruled to block access to an abortion pill. Youth organizers in the Alliance Network demand legislators take federal action to PROTECT ACCESS TO ABORTION NOW.
— Alliance for Youth Action (@alliance4youth) April 12, 2023
The congressmen stated, “The FDA’s lawless actions ultimately endanger women and girls seeking chemical abortions.” Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, who is the leader of the brief, is joined by 58 House Republicans and 10 other senators. These arguments were submitted the day after the Justice Department urged the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to stay the decision by noon on Thursday and to keep the abortion drug mifepristone on the market while the case is being litigated.
In his decision, Kacsmaryk ruled that the FDA erroneously hurried the approval of the medication mifepristone. The judge gave the Biden administration a week to file an appeal before his decision became final. It will take effect on Saturday at 12 a.m. CT. We have a lot of Texas news you must read about KISD Picks Ringo As Its New Superintendent.
A second federal judge’s decision contradicts Kacsmaryk’s decision. Minutes after the Texas ruling, a Washington state judge issued a preliminary injunction that would safeguard access to mifepristone in the 17 states and Washington, D.C., which filed the complaint and claimed that the medicine is subject to too many restrictions. The two orders may be used to bring the case before the Supreme Court.
