The Texas case is on track to head to the Supreme Court, but the bench’s conservative majority could reject a lower judge’s decision to prohibit the pill.
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority could reject a lower court’s decision to invalidate the FDA’s approval of the abortion pill, mifepristone.
In order for the Texas decision to be rejected, at least five justices would need to grant the FDA a stay of the decision.
Chief Justice John Roberts is likely the most willing conservative to grant the stay; however, one more justice would need to agree in order for the ruling to be overturned.
As the battle over mifepristone, the widely used abortion pill, is likely heading to the Supreme Court, the panel’s conservative majority could reject a lower court’s decision to invalidate the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) 23-year-old approval of the pill.
Last week, two preliminary injunctions issued within the same hour further strained the duel over mifepristone—the most widely used abortion pill in the U.S. to end a pregnancy within the first 10 weeks.
In Texas, a judge appointed by former President Donald Trump nullified the FDA’s decades-long approval, saying the agency failed to consider all the potential health and safety complications of the drug, shortly before a judge appointed by former President Barack Obama in Washington state blocked the FDA from pulling access to the pill, arguing in favor of its safety.
