Is abortion pill mifepristone available in Texas? What to know following court rulings
Both the Biden Administration and Danco Laboratories filed emergency requests asking the Supreme Court to preserve access to abortion pill mifepristone on Friday.
The emergency requests come a week following U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s order suspending Food and Drug Administration approval of mifepristone. Kacsmaryk’s decision coincided with U.S. District Judge Thomas O. Rice’s opposing decision, which directed U.S. authorities not to make any changes that would restrict access to the drug in at least 17 states, the AP reported.
Nearly 600 biotech and pharma — or biopharma — industry executives signed a letter criticizing Kacsmaryk’s ruling. In the letter, the executives said Kacsmaryk’s ruling on the abortion drug could mark the beginning of overturned approval for any and all new drugs.
“If courts can overturn drug approvals without regard for science or evidence, or for the complexity required to fully vet the safety and efficacy of new drugs, any medicine is at risk for the same outcome as mifepristone,” the letter said.
On Friday, the Justice Department and mifepristone maker Danco Laboratories requested the Supreme Court justices issue a temporary order to keep FDA regulations governing mifepristone in place.
Texas-based Judge Kacsmaryk’s ruling was set to take effect on Saturday.
What is mifepristone?
Mifepristone is one of two pills used in medication abortions. Guidelines recommend taking 200 mg of mifepristone followed by a second drug, misoprostol, between 24 and 48 hours later.
Abortion pills were used in more than half of all legal abortions in 2020, according to research from the Guttmacher Institute, a group that supports abortion access. The use of abortion pills likely increased in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which closed abortion clinics in some states, the Star-Telegram previously reported.
The abortion pill mifepristone, which is different from Plan B, is FDA approved to end a pregnancy through ten weeks. The mifepristone and misoprostol regime is also prescribed for miscarriages, according to the National Library of Medicine.
Mifepristone has been regulated and monitored by the FDA since its 2000 approval. Of 3.7 million medication abortions reviewed by the FDA over 18 years, less than 0.03% of women were hospitalized after taking the drugs.
Is mifepristone available in Texas?
With the Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe v. Wade last year — which left states to decide the legality of abortion — nearly all abortions in Texas, including medication abortions that use mifepristone, are illegal.
The Star-Telegram previously reported that some pregnant Texans have traveled to clinics in states where abortion remains legal, or else are ordering medication abortions through online pharmacies or other international providers.
If Kacsmaryk’s ruling goes into effect, it could prevent access to mifepristone in states where abortion remains legal, which would also apply to patients prescribed the pill for miscarriages.
