


President Joe Biden forcefully denounced a Texas judge's ruling to suspend approval of a pill used for abortion.
“My thoughts are it’s completely out of bounds what the judge did,” Biden told reporters Tuesday.
NANCY MACE URGES BIDEN TO IGNORE RULING TO SUSPEND ABORTION PILL'S FDA APPROVAL
Biden did not elaborate further during a brief gaggle ahead of his trip to Northern Ireland. He condemned the ruling in a statement last Friday.
President Biden condemns a federal judge in Texas on Friday halting FDA approval of the abortion pill mifepristone, pending appeal:
— The Recount (@therecount) April 11, 2023
“It’s completely out of bounds, what the judge did.” pic.twitter.com/xLBNwtC1vk
Last Friday, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk from Texas directed the Food and Drug Administration to suspend approval of mifepristone, a pill approved for over 23 years that can be part of a two-drug regimen to induce an abortion.
Kacsmaryk's directive gave the Biden administration seven days to appeal his decision, which it did. Several prominent Democrats, such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and even conservative Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), have urged the Biden administration to ignore the ruling.
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra kept all options on the table, but the Biden administration has warned about the pitfalls of ignoring the ruling.
"People are rightly frustrated about this decision — but as dangerous a precedent it sets for a court to disregard FDA's expert judgment regarding a drug's safety and efficacy, it would also set a dangerous precedent for the administration to disregard a binding decision," HHS spokeswomen Kamara said, according to CBS.
The ruling coincided with a seemingly contradictory one out of Washington, in which U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Rice instructed the FDA to maintain the status quo, setting the stage for a possible Supreme Court showdown.
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Mifepristone is used to stymie a pregnancy, while a second pill, misoprostol, empties the uterus. Medical abortion accounts for roughly half of the abortions nationally, according to the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion rights advocacy group.
“We stand by the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, and we are prepared for a long, legal fight. That’s what I can say from here,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. “That’s what we are committed to doing for the providers who are making sure that this is available to women and also for women out there.”