Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Dueling Decisions May Create Patchy Abortion Pill Access And Uncertain Future
AP: Access To Abortion Pill In Limbo After Competing Rulings
Access to the most commonly used method of abortion in the U.S. plunged into uncertainty Friday following conflicting court rulings over the legality of the abortion medication mifepristone that has been widely available for more than 20 years. For now, the drug the Food and Drug Administration approved in 2000 appeared to remain at least immediately available in the wake of two separate rulings that were issued in quick succession by federal judges in Texas and Washington. (Weber, Perrone and Whitehurst, 4/8)
The 19th: Federal Judges Issue Conflicting Rulings On Medication Abortion Pill Mifepristone
Federal judges have issued contradicting orders about whether mifepristone — one of two drugs used to induce a medication abortion — can be legally distributed. A judge in Texas ruled Friday in a much watched case, saying that the federal government’s approval of the drug must be blocked; his decision, he wrote, takes effect in one week, giving the Department of Justice time to appeal the decision. But another federal judge, in Washington state, found the opposite in a separate case concerning the drug’s approval. That judge, who also ruled Friday, held that a nationwide injunction blocking mifepristone’s distribution would be “inappropriate.” (Luthra, 4/7)
AP: What Does 1870s Comstock Act Have To Do With Abortion Pills?
A 19th century “anti-vice” law is at the center of a new court ruling that threatens access to the leading abortion drug in the U.S. Dormant for a half-century, the Comstock Act has been revived by anti-abortion groups and conservative states seeking to block the mailing of mifepristone, the pill used in more than half of U.S. abortions. (Perrone, 4/8)
Axios: Ruling Echoes Anti-Abortion Rhetoric
A federal judge's 67-page decision to roll back FDA approval of mifepristone repeatedly borrowed terms from antiabortion advocates, such as "chemical abortion," rather than the generally accepted terms used by the medical community. (Reed, 4/10)
What does that mean for pregnant people right now? —
The Washington Post: Can I Still Get A Medication Abortion?
Access to the two-drug regimen will likely vary across the country. In states where abortion is legal, clinics could limit their offerings to surgical abortions, which require far more time and resources than pills. But many providers say they will continue to offer medication abortions — using only misoprostol if need be. Others say they have been stockpiling mifepristone while it is still FDA-approved, and will continue using that supply of the drug. (Kitchener, Marimow, McGinley, Roubein and Sellers, 4/7)
San Francisco Chronicle: Medication Abortions Will Be More Painful Without Mifepristone
By suspending a drug used in medicated abortions Friday, a conservative federal judge in Texas did more than make it harder for people to obtain abortions. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk also made it more painful. And that may be the point, abortion rights advocates say. (Garofoli, 4/7)
PBS NewsHour: Analysis: 4 Questions Answered About The Courts And The Abortion Pill Mifepristone
Dueling, back-to-back rulings by federal judges about access to the drug mifepristone, which is used in most abortions in the United States, have raised questions about the future of reproductive health care in the country. (Serino, 4/9)
KHN: Journalists Explain Impact Of Texas Judge’s ACA Decision And Cuts In Federal Food Benefits
KHN chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner discussed the aftermath of a federal judge’s decision in Texas that blocks the Affordable Care Act’s provision on preventive care benefits on Slate’s “What Next” on April 5. (4/8)
The history behind the rulings —
The Washington Post: Texas Judge Delivers On The Hopes Of His Antiabortion World
When Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk was a young father, his wife captured much of their daily life on a parenting blog that highlighted the family’s strong antiabortion beliefs. One photo showed one of their children, a toddler, in a T-shirt that read “I survived Roe v. Wade.” “As you might guess, Matt LOVES this shirt,” Kacsmaryk’s wife wrote in January 2009, referring to her husband. “I put it on her today not even realizing that today is the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.” (Kitchener, 4/8)
CNN: Meet The Judge Who Ruled Medication Abortion Must Remain Available In Some States
US District Judge Thomas Owen Rice of the Eastern District of Washington, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, ordered the federal government to keep the drug available in 17 states plus the District of Columbia. ... here’s what you need to know about Rice. (Kashiwagi, 4/8)
The Washington Post: The Abortion Pill’s 1992 Supreme Court Battle And The Woman Who Started It
The plane from London had landed at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, and Leona Benten was weeping on the tarmac when U.S. customs officials seized the abortion pills she wanted to use to end her pregnancy, which were banned in America. Benten, a social worker and activist from Berkeley, Calif., was 6½ weeks pregnant and 29 years old when she volunteered in the summer of 1992 to be the test case in the legal fight challenging the Food and Drug Administration’s ban on importing RU-486, the French-made abortion pill that later became known as mifepristone. Lawrence Lader, an influential abortion rights leader who organized the trip for Benten, had notified U.S. customs officials in advance of what was happening. Then, federal officials confronted her and confiscated her pills on July 1, 1992. (Bella, 4/8)
