According to a report by USA Today, a battle between federal judges recently occurred over the abortion pill known as mifepristone.
In Texas, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryks ruling halted the approval by the government of the drug. Many miles and several states in Washington, U.S. District Judge Thomas O. Rice ruled the opposite way, giving the Food and Drug Administration the green light to go ahead and allow the drug to be accessible.
With the Kacsmaryk ruling, the government has seven days to seek emergency relief from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth District.
At this point, the stage is set for a legal battle before the Supreme Court Justices.
In Washington, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez stated on CNN, I believe that the Biden administration should ignore this ruling. She added that deeply partisan judges have engaged in unprecedented and dramatic erosion of the legitimacy of the courts and called the ruling unfounded. The interesting thing when it comes to a ruling is that it relies on enforcement. And it is up to the Biden administration to enforce, to choose whether or not to enforce a ruling.
Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon chimed in with his comments after the ruling. He said, There is no way this decision has a basis in law. It is instead rooted in conservatives dangerous and undemocratic takeover of our countrys institutions. No matter what happens in seven days, I believe the Food and Drug Administration has the authority to ignore this ruling, which is why Im again calling on President Biden and the FDA to do just that.
Wyden feels the FDA and doctors and pharmacies go about their jobs like nothing has changed and keep mifepristone accessible to women across America.
President Biden has made his position clear. He says the court has substituted its judgment for FDA, the expert agency that approves drugs.
Fox News reports Biden warned in a statement, If this ruling were to stand, then there will be virtually no prescription, approved by the FDA, that would be safe from these kinds of political, ideological attacks.
The President continued, This does not just affect women in Texas - if it stands, it would prevent women in every state from accessing the medication, regardless of whether abortion is legal in a state. It is the next big step toward the national ban on abortion that Republican elected officials have vowed to make law in America.
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