Return to the Latest

Mifepristone Decision Poses Significant Threat to Reproductive Health and FDA Authority

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 10, 2023
Contact: Emma Bittner
(972) 510-3395 | Emma.Bittner@younginvincibles.org

Mifepristone Decision Poses Significant Threat to Reproductive Health and FDA Authority

(Washington, DC) –  Friday, Texas U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ruled to suspend the FDA’s approval of Mifepristone, a widely used abortion pill, that would go into effect nationally. The 67-page opinion by Kacsmaryk allows seven days for the government to appeal the decision. Nearly simultaneously, Washington State U.S. District Judge Thomas O. Rice ruled ordering the FDA to not alter its approval of Mifepristone nor make any changes to restrict access.

The competing decisions will likely escalate to the Supreme Court. The Justice Department and manufacturer of Mifepristone, Danco, have filed appeals to the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. The FDA has also appealed the ruling.

In response to the ruling from Judge Kacksmaryk, Kristin McGuire, Executive Director at Young Invincibles said: 

“Mifepristone has been approved and deemed safe for over two decades. This decision is not based on science, but rather on an ideological agenda to ban abortion access everywhere. It is shameful that a federal judge would decide to challenge, erode, and jeopardize the FDA’s authority in this country in order to further limit safe abortion care.

The consequences of this decision will reach far beyond abortion access. It will largely impact young people, families of color, those in rural areas, and those impacted by poverty. Sixty percent of abortion patients in the U.S. are young adults in their 20s, and 75 percent of abortion patients are low-income. It is also not lost on us that Black and American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) women’s pregnancy mortality rate is over three and two times higher compared to white women. This is more than a reproductive issue but also an equity issue, directly affecting people of color who disproportionately suffer from maternal mortality, increased risk factors, and health disparities.

Young Invincibles will continue to fight for economic access for young adults, this includes the ability to family plan. Mifepristone is safe to use and is currently legal and available. Access to safe abortion care is health care.”

In response, Martha Sanchez, Director of Health Policy and Advocacy at Young Invincibles said: 

“This ruling poses a threat to timely abortion care everywhere. Mifepristone is essential to early-term abortions and to aiding people enduring a miscarriage. Stripping access to this medication will not end access to all medication abortions given that Misoprostol only regimens exist; but will create more barriers for people traveling out of state for abortion care and to reproductive care clinics already struggling with capacity. 

Decisions over the safety and efficacy of medications should be made by medical professionals and scientists, not by politicized judges. This decision undermines not just the strict drug approval process by the FDA, but 23 years worth of data and the thousands of people who have had safe abortions thanks to Mifepristone.”

Young Invincibles urges legislators to take note of the health threats people face given the state of abortion bans and now a possible nationwide limitation on Mifepristone. YI urges state legislators to reassess their efforts in ensuring reproductive care and for Congress to act on passing the Women’s Health Protection Act.

### 

Young Invincibles (YI) is a national advocacy and policy nonprofit organization focused on amplifying the voice of young people in the political process at the local, state, and federal levels. YI focuses on issues impacting young adults ages 18 to 34 in higher education, health care, economic security, and civic engagement. Our offices include Washington, D.C., California, Colorado, Illinois, New York, and Texas. For more information, please contact Emma Bittner at (972) 510-3395 or emma.bittner@younginvincibles.org