Statement on Initial Mifepristone Ruling (4.7.23)
Since the fall of Roe, we’ve been entrenched in the long game: loss scenarios; scenarios where
we break even; our (eventual, inevitable) triumph. Today, we brave a confusing quagmire that feels an awful lot like a loss. Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk out of Amarillo, Texas has sided with an extremist anti-abortion group and ruled to challenge mifepristone’s approval by the FDA (technically a “stay”).
This is another attempt to curtail the full spectrum of abortion care, widening the gap of access for all. Judge Kacsmaryk is not a physician. He cannot change the reality of the medication itself: a safe, effective way to end an unwanted pregnancy in early gestation. DECADES of research show that the risk of complications from taking abortion pills, including mifepristone, are less than .04% (which means they are safer than both Viagra and Tylenol).
A medication abortion regimen involves taking two pills: mifepristone, which blocks the pregnancy hormone, progesterone; and misoprostol, which induces the expulsion of the pregnancy from the uterus. These drugs have long and safe track records: Misoprostol was approved in 1988 to treat gastric ulcers, with mifepristone approved in 2000 to end early pregnancy. Prior to approval in the United States, mifepristone has been in use in Europe since the late 1980s.
This is also unprecedented territory: This is the first time in history that a federal court has ordered the FDA to revoke approval of a drug despite objections from the FDA and the manufacturer. This decision does not take effect for seven days in order to allow the FDA to appeal. Right now, medication abortions are STILL LEGAL. Mifepristone has not been unilaterally banned and yanked off the shelves–though much remains unclear regarding specific limitations. In Washington state, a contradictory ruling was issued today stating the FDA must protect mifepristone distribution for 12 states: Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Vermont. Again: these are genuinely unprecedented times (and rulings). We are especially saddened that this ruling was issued on a Friday evening during a holy week for so many. The cruelty is the point.
The topline is that at this moment, abortion medication is still legal and available to North and South Carolinians. We encourage you to look toward our partners, not headline-writers. The ACLU, Planned Parenthood, Pro-Choice NC, The Center for Reproductive Rights, If/When/How, and the National Network of Abortion Funds are all wonderful resources tracking developments by the minute.
People have been having abortions as long as there have been people. Abortions cannot be legislated away: they can only be criminalized, scrutinized, stigmatized and coveted.
Onward, y’all.