Will abortion pills stay legal?
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 11 April 2023
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Late Friday, two conflicting rulings threw a key abortion medication’s FDA approval into question. Today on Post Reports, we break down the legal confusion and talk about what could happen next.
At the center of this unprecedented legal clash is mifepristone, a drug that is part of a two-step abortion pill regimen used by millions of people. A federal judge in Texas blocked the FDA’s longtime approval of the drug. Less than an hour later, another federal judge, in Washington state, ordered that the drug remain available in a swath of states.
The dueling cases are creating confusion and questions about the future of medication abortion in America.
Today on “Post Reports,” legal affairs reporter Ann Marimow walks through the cases and what they mean.
Read more:
A Texas abortion pill ruling threatens the FDA.
Can I still get a medication abortion?
In a divided nation, dueling decisions on an abortion pill.
Don’t miss a chance to experience “Post Reports” live! “Post Reports” senior host Martine Powers will be in conversation with author Curtis Sittenfeld at Sixth & I in Washington at 7 p.m. on April 13. Get tickets here.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | What were you doing on Friday evening when you learned about the decision from Texas? |
| 0:08.0 | I was actually just pulling in to my home. |
| 0:11.2 | I was sitting in the driveway and suddenly my phone started to blow up. |
| 0:21.6 | Melissa Grant is a co-founder of Carrofem, a network of abortion providers that also offers |
| 0:27.0 | telehealth services. |
| 0:29.1 | She was sitting in her driveway Friday night when Texas federal judge Matthew Kismaric |
| 0:34.5 | blocked the FDA's approval of a key abortion drug. |
| 0:38.6 | Even though abortion providers across the country had been bracing for a decision, few |
| 0:43.0 | expected it to come so late on a Friday at the start of a holiday weekend for a lot of |
| 0:47.8 | people. |
| 0:48.8 | Dr. Sarah Wallet is an OBGYN in Michigan and chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood |
| 0:54.6 | there. |
| 0:55.6 | I had finished working in one of our health centers and I had left to go away for the weekend |
| 1:01.2 | with my kids to visit family for the Easter holiday. |
| 1:05.2 | And I got a text message while I was in the car driving that the decision had come out |
| 1:10.4 | and it wasn't good. |
| 1:14.0 | But then another ruling came. |
| 1:16.2 | This one from a federal judge in Washington state who said, wait a minute, the drug |
| 1:21.2 | methapristone is safe and effective and should remain available. |
| 1:25.6 | Here's Melissa Grant from Carrofem again. |
| 1:28.6 | It felt to some degree almost like Whiplash. |
| 1:31.2 | It's like, okay, we looked one direction. |
... |
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