In the legal battle over abortion drug mifepristone, we have conflicting rulings — and a bit of a judicial smackdown. The Supreme Court could step in as soon as Friday, with the Justice Department and the drug’s manufacturer pressing the court to do so. Here’s a quick recap of what happened and where we’re going.
The divergent rulings come from Donald Trump-appointed Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas, who last week tried to suspend the Food and Drug Administration’s 2000 approval of mifepristone, and the other is from Barack Obama-appointed Judge Thomas Rice in Washington state, who issued a conflicting ruling that same day. Kacsmaryk’s extreme ruling was narrowed Wednesday by an also-extreme 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling, which said mifepristone can stay on the market but with restrictions, including no more access to the drug via mail.
When Kacsmaryk entered his order April 7, he paused it from taking effect for a week, so the narrowed version of his ruling could take effect at the end of Friday, which the DOJ and drugmaker Danco are trying to stop from happening with their Supreme Court filings.
BREAKING: DOJ asks #SCOTUS to immediately halt Kacsmaryk's mifepristone order from going into effect at midnight, to halt his ruling from going into effect during appeals. https://t.co/MmdN2vLNpa pic.twitter.com/VpvVKsuCxL








