Biden slams ‘completely out of bounds’ ruling by Trump-nominated Texas judge to ban use of abortion pills: White House goes to war to overturn most controversial decision
- Biden is challenging a judge who invalidated the approval of the most widely used abortion drug in the United States
- “My thoughts are that what the judge did is totally forbidden,” he said
- Biden’s Justice Department is appealing the ruling
President Joe Biden on Tuesday condemned a Texas court ruling that invalidated approval of the most widely used abortion drug in the US, calling it “entirely off limits.”
“My thoughts are that what the judge did is totally forbidden,” he told reporters at Joint Base Andrews before leaving for a four-day trip to Ireland.
Biden’s Justice Department is appealing the ruling, and his spokesman has predicted the legal battle will end at the Supreme Court. Abortion rights are expected to be one of the dominant issues in the 2024 presidential election.
DoJ lawyers argue that the challengers had no right to bring the lawsuit since they were not personally harmed by the abortion pill.
“My thoughts are that what the judge did is totally forbidden,” President Joe Biden said of a Texas judge’s ruling on an abortion drug
And White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre warned Monday that the administration is “ready to fight the case” — and could push it all the way to the Supreme Court.
The Justice Department filed the appeal Tuesday in response to Texas Judge Matthew Kascmaryk, a Donald Trump appointee, who Friday ordered the Federal Drug Administration to approve mifepristone — one of two drugs used in more than half of all abortions. used – to withdraw. in the United States.
The Justice Department has asked the judges of the 5th Circuit to put Kascmaryk’s warrant on hold until their appeals are decided.
“If enacted, the court’s order would thwart FDA scientific judgment and seriously harm women, especially those for whom mifepristone is a medical or practical necessity,” the Justice Department wrote.
Whatever the right-wing rules of the 5th Circuit, the White House expects the fight to continue.
“It’s probably going to the Supreme Court, which we’re pretty sure we’re going to win,” Jean-Pierre said at her briefing on Monday.
“We’re ready to fight,” she said. “We support FDA approval.”
The Food and Drug Administration approved the use of mifepristone in 2000, but the Texas plaintiffs argued that the FDA had not sufficiently assessed mifepristone’s safety. It is one of two drugs used in the United States for medicated abortion, along with misoprostol, which is also used to treat other medical conditions.
Medical groups point out that mifepristone has been used by millions of women over the past 23 years with a low complication rate.
To further complicate matters, a federal judge in Washington state on Friday issued a preliminary injunction in another case ordering the FDA not to make changes that would restrict access to mifepristone in at least 17 states where Democrats filed a lawsuit.
More than a dozen states have restricted access to abortions after the overthrow of Roe V Wade
The dueling decisions may lead the Supreme Court to take up the matter even more quickly.
Mifepristone blocks the hormone progesterone in the body and is used together with the drug misoprostol to terminate pregnancy within the first 10 weeks.
More than half of abortions in the US are now drug-induced abortions, and the vast majority of those include that two-drug protocol.
But the second drug in that regimen, misoprostol, can also be used alone to induce abortion.
Several states are now stockpiling misoprostol in anticipation of uncertainty about how much longer mifepristone will be available.
California Governor Gavin Newsom said his state will secure an emergency supply of up to 2 million pills of misoprostol.
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healy said her state has some 15,000 mifepristone pills stockpiled, and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced that his state had mifepristone on hand for about three years.
And House Democrats took a largely symbolic step Monday by introducing legislation confirming the FDA’s approval of mifepristone.
Democrats were critical of the decision in Texas. Progressive legislator Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York called on the Biden administration to completely ignore the ban.
Trump appointee Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk ordered a halt to the abortion pill mifepristone over fears for its safety
Proponents point out that mifepristone has been used for decades without major complications
Democrats argue women’s rights are under attack in the US as the Supreme Court ends decades of precedent in the Roe decision by a 6-to-3 conservative majority.
Republican-led states have introduced stricter abortion laws following last summer’s ruling — and now the abortion pill is banned.
