Willie R. Tubbs, FISM News
The confusion has spread to Health and Human Services after a pair of federal judges issued conflicting rulings regarding the distribution of the abortion drug mifepristone on Friday.
A Texas judge halted the FDA’s approval of the drug while a judge in the state of Washington ordered that the FDA refrain from altering the status of mifepristone in 12 Democrat-led states.
HHS Secretary Xavier Beccera has responded with promises to take every available step to overturn the first order, implying that he may defy the order if it came down to it.
“We want the courts to overturn this reckless decision,” Becerra said during a Sunday appearance on CNN. “Everything is on the table. The president said that way back when the Dobbs decision came out. Every option is on the table.”
Later in the day, though, HHS walked back Becerra’s remarks, which could be construed as a promise to circumvent the law.
“People are rightly frustrated about this decision — but as dangerous a precedent it sets for a court to disregard FDA’s expert judgment regarding a drug’s safety and efficacy, it would also set a dangerous precedent for the Administration to disregard a binding decision,” HHS spokesperson Kamara Jones tweeted.
As it is untenable, indeed impossible, for citizens, businesses, or medical facilities to adhere to conflicting rulings, it seems a given that this matter will eventually find its way before the Supreme Court.
The situation was created Friday when Texas-based U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk stayed the FDA’s approval, but Washington-based U.S. District Judge Thomas Rice issued a preliminary injunction to prevent the FDA from altering the current availability of mifepristone in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington state.
The Texas court provided a seven-day waiting period for its ruling to go into effect, allowing the White House time to appeal.
Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a statement in full opposition to the Texas ruling.
“Today’s decision overturns the FDA’s expert judgment, rendered over two decades ago, that mifepristone is safe and effective,” Garland said in a statement. “The Department will continue to defend the FDA’s decision.”
The Biden administration filed an appeal on Friday night.
Mifepristone was first approved by the FDA in 2000, and conservative activists have long pushed for the removal of numerous chemical abortion drugs from the FDA’s list of approved medicines.
The life-destroying drug blocks the hormone progesterone from reaching the preborn child, essentially starving the baby to death. The drug has also come under fire as recent studies have shown that it is dangerous for women. The FDA has linked the drug to at least 28 deaths and over 4,000 major health complications.
“This decision shines a light on something that the Biden Administration wants to sweep under the rug – that these drugs do not treat or cure disease but kill unborn children and expose their mothers to dangerous side effects. The FDA should be in the business of ensuring safety, not in taking lives,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life.
The calls to remove mifepristone have intensified since the FDA announced in January that it would allow retail stores to sell the pill. Any doctor prescribing or pharmacy distributing mifepristone is required to possess a special certificate.