The Justice Department on Monday appealed a Texas court ruling that would halt approval of the most commonly used method of abortion in the U.S., calling the decision “extraordinary and unprecedented.”
The request to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was filed just days after conflicting court rulings over the legality of the abortion medication mifepristone put in doubt access to the drug that has been widely available for more than 20 years.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, an appointee of Donald Trump, issued his decision Friday but ruled it would not take effect for seven days. The Biden administration in its filing with the New Orleans-based appellate court said the Texas “court’s extraordinary and unprecedented order should” remain on hold while it appeals.
“If allowed to take effect, the court’s order would thwart FDA’s scientific judgment and severely harm women, particularly those for whom mifepristone is a medical or practical necessity,” the Justice Department wrote.
Kacsmaryk’s decision came at nearly the same time a separate federal judge in the state of Washington directed U.S. authorities not to make any changes that would restrict access to the drug in at least 17 states where Democrats had sued.
The Food and Drug Administration approved the use of mifepristone in 2000.
The whiplash of the conflicting decisions is likely to put the issue on an accelerated path to the Supreme Court.
Underlining that confusion, the Justice Department on Monday separately asked the federal court in Washington state for clarity.