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A federal Obama-appointed judge ruled to maintain access to abortion pills in 17 states and Washington, D.C., on Thursday.
The ruling would not be impacted by other orders issued in other federal courts, said the judge, Thomas Rice of the U.S. Eastern District of Washington.
His ruling is a clarification and reiteration of a ruling he issued last Friday, when he ordered the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to preserve access to mifepristone in the 17 states and Washington, D.C.—jurisdictions all led by Democrats.
The 17 states are Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Washington. The states and Washington, D.C., had sued the Biden administration’s FDA and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to maintain their access to mifepristone.
Rice’s decision last Friday, April 7, had come within 20 minutes of a decision by U.S. District Judge Matthew J.
