Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
No New Limits On Abortion Pill For Now, As Supreme Court Steps In
Stat: Supreme Court Temporarily Pauses New Limits On Abortion Pill
Access to the abortion pill mifepristone will remain unchanged until Wednesday, after a U.S. Supreme Court justice on Friday issued a stay on last week’s ruling from a conservative Texas judge banning the medicine. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito issued an administrative stay preserving access to mifepristone, which has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration since 2000, until 11:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday. It is likely the country’s highest court will rule more substantively on access to the medication before then, a decision that will have major ramifications for the FDA’s authority and access to the commonly used drug. (Owermohle, 4/14)
AP: US Supreme Court's Abortion Pill Order Spares Safe Havens
Before the U.S. Supreme Court stepped in Friday, access to an abortion pill was in line to become more cumbersome in California, New York and some other states that have positioned themselves as safe havens for those seeking to end their pregnancies. The order keeps in place federal rules for use of mifepristone, one of the two drugs usually used in combination in medication abortions. The legal saga isn’t over: The Supreme Court suggested it will decide the issue by Wednesday. (Mulvihill, 4/14)
NPR: Abortion Rights Advocates Rally In Support Of Abortion Pill Access
Abortion rights supporters around the country and in the nation's capital are holding rallies Saturday and Sunday against the decision by a Texas judge to reverse the FDA's approval of a key abortion drug. (Radde, 4/15)
In related news about Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk —
The Washington Post: Unpacking The Flawed Science Cited In The Texas Abortion Pill Ruling
A Texas judge’s decision to invalidate federal approval of a key abortion drug cites research based on anonymous blog posts, cherry-picks statistics that exaggerate the negative physical and psychological effects of mifepristone, and ignores hundreds of scientific studies attesting to the medication’s safety. The unprecedented ruling last week by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk contradicted the recommendations of numerous medical groups when it assailed the safety of mifepristone, a two-decade-old medication used in more than half of all abortions in the United States. Another federal judge determined on the same day that the drug should remain available in a swath of states. (Weber, McGinley, Ovalle and Sellers, 4/13)
The Washington Post: The Controversial Article Matthew Kacsmaryk Did Not Disclose To The Senate
As a lawyer for a conservative legal group, Matthew Kacsmaryk in early 2017 submitted an article to a Texas law review criticizing Obama-era protections for transgender people and those seeking abortions. The Obama administration, the draft article argued, had discounted religious physicians who “cannot use their scalpels to make female what God created male” and “cannot use their pens to prescribe or dispense abortifacient drugs designed to kill unborn children.” (Kitchener, Barnes and Marimow, 4/15)
