‘Devastating consequences’: NC attorney general challenges Texas abortion pill ruling
N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein joined several other states in challenging a ruling that invalidated the federal approval of the abortion pill.
Access to medication abortions in the United States became uncertain last week, when a federal judge in Texas ruled to overturn the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone.
This ruling could take effect as soon as Friday night, the length of time the Texas judge gave the drug manufacturer and the federal government to appeal.
An amicus brief filed by 24 Democratic attorneys generals asks the appeals court to keep the medication available while the legal process plays out.
The U.S. Justice Department has already appealed the decision and a Washington State federal judge issued a contradictory ruling in a separate case.
The brief argued that if mifepristone was taken off the shelves there would be “devastating consequences nationwide,” like a surge in unnecessary surgical abortions and unwanted pregnancies.
Mifepristone is still available in North Carolina for the time being and even if the drug is taken off the shelves, there are other effective medications doctors can use to end a pregnancy.
“This judge’s decision is wrong on every level, and it takes away safe medical care for women, putting their health at risk,” Stein said in a press release.
Teddy Rosenbluth covers science and health care for The News & Observer in a position funded by Duke Health and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work.
This story was originally published April 11, 2023 at 12:31 PM.
