{"id":289364,"date":"2023-04-18T14:38:43","date_gmt":"2023-04-18T19:38:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=289364"},"modified":"2023-04-18T14:30:03","modified_gmt":"2023-04-18T19:30:03","slug":"states-abortion-pill-maker-sticky-situation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/states-abortion-pill-maker-sticky-situation\/","title":{"rendered":"Legal minds say some states – and the abortion pill’s maker – might be in a sticky situation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Abortion pill manufacturer Danco Laboratories \u2014 and multiple states that commit a large number of abortions \u2014\u00a0could be unprotected from a Washington State District Court ruling which barred the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from “altering the status quo and rights as it relates to the availability of mifepristone,” a drug known as the abortion pill.<\/p>\n

David S. Cohen<\/a>, a Drexel University School of Law professor, made the interesting observation in a tweet thread<\/a> following a petition<\/a> by Danco to the U.S. Supreme Court, requesting that the High Court stay a lower Court ruling in the case of Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine (AHM) v. FDA<\/em>. Last week, Justice Samuel Alito agreed to issue the stay<\/a> until Wednesday, April 19, 2023.<\/p>\n

Competing court rulings on abortion pill<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine (AHM) v. FDA\u00a0<\/em>centers on\u00a0a\u00a0ruling<\/a>\u00a0by U.S. District Court Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk on behalf of AHM that\u00a0suspended<\/a>\u00a0the FDA\u2019s 2000 approval of the abortion pill mifepristone, and all decisions made thereafter.<\/p>\n

Then, a Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals panel\u00a0partially\u00a0upheld<\/a>\u00a0the previously mentioned Kacsmaryk ruling<\/a>\u00a0on behalf of AHM. And, while the court chose to hear the merits of the request that the 2000 abortion pill approval was illegal, the Appeals Court decision would force the FDA’s safety regulations to be moved back to\u00a0pre-2016 safety requirements<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At that point, Danco issued a\u00a0petition<\/a>\u00a0to the Supreme Court requesting a stay in the AHM case and Justice Samuel Alito agreed to issue the stay<\/a> until April 19. Despite Danco claiming potential harm in its\u00a0petition<\/a>\u00a0to the Supreme Court, the generic abortion pill maker, GenBioPro, previously\u00a0admitted<\/a>\u00a0they had already \u201ccaptured a significant share of the nationwide market for mifepristone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Washington State v. FDA<\/em>\u00a0was filed by pro-abortion politicians from several states who requested the judge\u00a0remove the abortion pill from the FDA\u2019s REMS safety system.<\/p>\n

But before hearing the merits of the full request, U.S. District Judge Thomas O. Rice granted a preliminary injunction to\u00a0bar the FDA<\/a>\u00a0from \u201caltering the status quo and rights as it relates to the availability of Mifepristone under the current operative January 2023 Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy under 21 U.S.C. \u00a7 355-1 in Plaintiff States.”<\/p>\n

Danco and major states not protected by Washington State ruling<\/strong><\/p>\n

These competing cases have garnered interest from the legal community, prompting\u00a0Professor Cohen to tweet, “Unfortunately, because they didn’t join the Washington case, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and California are not covered by the ‘status quo’ injunction from that case. Those are four of the largest abortion-providing states, and New York is home to Danco.”<\/p>\n

Danco claims to be a pharmaceutical company, but it manufactures just one drug: Mifeprex (mifepristone), the abortion pill.<\/p>\n

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Unfortunately, because they didn't join the Washington case, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and California are not covered by the "status quo" injunction from that case. Those are four of the largest abortion-providing states, and New York is home to Danco. ?\u200d\u2642\ufe0f https:\/\/t.co\/5RF79TYD5l<\/a><\/p>\n

— David S. Cohen (@dsc250) April 13, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n