Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) echoed some of her liberal counterparts' calls for President Joe Biden to ignore a Texas ruling that suspends approval for a pill used for abortion.
“It’s not up to us to decide as legislators, or even, you know, as the court system whether this is the right drug to use or not,” Mace told CNN Monday. “I agree with ignoring it at this point … this thing should just be thrown out, quite frankly.”
TONY GONZALES WARNS BIDEN ADMINISTRATION AGAINST IGNORING ABORTION PILL COURT RULING
Republican @NancyMace says she believes the FDA should ignore the Texas judge’s ruling. “This is an FDA approved drug. Whether you agree with its usage or not, that's not your decision. That is the FDA’s decision.” pic.twitter.com/wGJBunurcL
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) April 10, 2023
Last Friday, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk from Texas directed the Food and Drug Administration to suspend approval of mifepristone, which can be part of a two-drug regimen to induce an abortion. Kacsmaryk argued that the FDA flouted a federal rule governing accelerated approval for drugs.
Mifepristone stymies a pregnancy, while the second pill, misoprostol, empties the uterus. It has also been approved for over 23 years and is the main treatment for ectopic pregnancies. Medical abortion comprises roughly half of the abortions nationally, according to the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion rights advocacy group.
Mace, who is anti-abortion, has long chided her party for being too restrictive and messaging poorly on abortion, calling for more moderation.
“This is an issue that Republicans have been largely on the wrong side of,” Mace added. “We have, over the last nine months, not shown compassion toward women, and this is one of those issues that I’ve tried to lead on as someone who’s pro-life, and just have some common sense.”
During her time in the South Carolina state legislature, Mace recounted how she was raped and successfully advocated for adding a rape and incest exception in a six-week abortion ban that cleared the state house in 2019.
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Top Democrats such as Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), have similarly implored Biden to use his executive authorities to safeguard access to the drug.
Under his ruling, Kacsmaryk gave the Biden administration seven days to appeal his decision before the suspension goes into effect, which it did.