How Texas judge’s order halting FDA approval of abortion pill mifepristone could affect New Yorkers

A Texas federal judge on Friday issued an order intended to halt the federal approval of mifepristone, a widely used abortion pill that has been on the market in the U.S. for nearly a quarter-century.

The immediate effects of the order were unclear. The Texas judge gave the government a week-long window to appeal, and a Washington State judge almost simultaneously issued a conflicting order.

But the judicial drama raised the prospect that mifepristone could be pulled from the market.

Mifepristone is one drug in the two-part sequence typically used in pill-induced abortions. About one in two abortions in the U.S. are carried out with medication.

The case has returned Texas to the center of America’s abortion debate. A strict abortion ban took effect in the state months before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year.

But this time, the order in Texas could influence abortion access as far away as New York, which has long had some of America’s most robust reproductive protections.

Last year, New York City moved to guarantee free medication abortion access for anyone who needs it.

Here is what New Yorkers should know about the mifepristone case.

Mifepristone is an abortion pill that was approved by the Food and Drug Drug Administration in 2000. It is typically used with a second drug, misoprostol, to end a pregnancy within the first 10 weeks.

Under FDA rules, mifepristone can only be prescribed by certified health care providers. The hormone-blocker has been used by more than 5 million people in the U.S. since its approval.

Challengers in the Texas case claim the drug’s safety was never fully vetted. Medical groups say the pill has a strong safety record.

In New York, the City Council passed a law last year requiring city-run health clinics to offer free sequences of mifepristone and misoprostol.

The ruling in Amarillo, Texas, by Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a conservative appointee of former President Donald Trump, could push the pill off the market across the nation.

The order marks a remarkable challenge to the FDA’s authority, and promises a swift challenge from the federal government.

“This case is outlandish and unprecedented,” Donna Lieberman, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said before Kacsmaryk’s order. “It’s simply about extending the long arm of those who would ban abortion into places like New York.”

Yes. Misoprostol, the second drug typically used with mifepristone, could still be used. It is used on its own in other countries where mifepristone is not available. But misoprostol is not as effective when used without mifepristone.