Several Bay Area communities are joining a national day of protest over a federal judge’s ruling that could block the use of a home abortion pill in several states.
The ruling by federal judge Andrew Kacsmaryk in Texas now puts access to the abortion drug mifepristone in question.
Mifepristone was approved by the FDA in September 2000 and is used in several other countries.
His ruling is a victory for an anti-abortion group called the alliance for Hippocratic medicine, who brought the suit against the FDA.
In California, Governor Gavin Newsom has already responded by announcing that the state has secured two million pills of misoprostol -- a different abortion pill -- as an emergency stockpile.
Almost immediately after that federal in Texas issued his ruling, a federal judge in Washington ordered the FDA to continue providing mifepristone in 17 states that sued over the issue.
In a statement, Planned Parenthood Northern California President and CEO Gilda Gonzalez said they will continue providing care as usual.
"Planned Parenthood Northern California continues to monitor the conflicting legal rulings out of Texas and Washington on Friday, April 7,” said Gonzalez. “We are waiting to see what additional actions occur in the coming days before making any modifications to our health care delivery."
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has already moved to appeal the Texas decision, asking a higher court to block the ruling.
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"We have a very strong case, because the FDA has followed all the rules and used the evidence to make a decision. We feel very confident that we will prevail in court,” said Secretary Xavier Becerra of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
At the White House, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre raised concerns about the precedent the Texas ruling could set for other drugs as well.
"If the decision stands, it will put women's health at risk and undermine the FDA's ability to ensure patients have access to safe and effective medications when they need them the most,” said Jean-Pierre.
That's the same concern that executives from 200 bio-pharma companies are raising in a letter they've signed criticizing the Texas federal judge’s ruling.
