Abortion rights advocates gather in front of the J. Marvin Jones Federal Building and Courthouse in Amarillo, Texas, on Wednesday. U.S. abortion opponents are hoping to get a national ban on a widely used abortion pill through their lawsuit against the FDA. Moises Avila/AFP via Getty Images
By Bill Chappell and Sarah McCammon, National Public Radio (NPR), March 15, 2023
Was the FDA wrong to approve a drug that's used in nearly all medication abortions in the U.S. — and should the drug, mifepristone, be taken off the market? Those questions were argued in court Wednesday, in a case heard by controversial federal Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Amarillo, Texas.
If the lawsuit succeeds, it could have sweeping repercussions — for abortion providers and patients across the nation, as well as for the FDA's drug-approval process. At least 25 states have filed amicus briefs in the case.
A coalition of anti-abortion medical groups and doctors called the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine sued the FDA back in November, saying the abortion pill mifepristone was improperly approved two decades ago as part of a two-drug protocol that's used to end pregnancies in the first trimester.
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