NWLC Reacts to Decision in Medication Abortion Case
CONTACT: Olympia Feil, [email protected]
(Washington, DC) Today, Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas issued a decision that could potentially eliminate access to mifepristone – a drug typically used in medication abortion, the most common form of abortion in the United States.
Mifepristone has a safety record better than Tylenol, is effective, and has been used by more than five million people since the FDA approved it over 20 years ago.
The following is a statement by Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC):
“A single judge in Texas wants to use his personal ideology to override the FDA and end access to a critical drug that has helped millions of people safely end their pregnancies for more than two decades. Judge Kacsmaryk was targeted by anti-abortion extremists because of his clear bias and reputation.
“We deserve more than an anti-abortion minority manipulating our legal system to defy the law, logic, science, and public support. We are still distilling this unprecedented decision and don’t know yet the length or depth of its impact. But what’s clear is that this sort of weaponization of the judiciary is a threat to our democracy and we must work to restore justice in every way possible. The personal decision to get an abortion or use a drug like mifepristone should be made by an individual in consultation with their health care provider—not an extremist judge.”