The high court is deciding how to handle a case from Texas, where a conservative federal judge issued a sweeping ruling against the drug, which is stayed for now.
The court announced today that it will extend that stay through Friday, while it considers what to do. The drug is mifespristone, which many people have learned by now has been used in conjunction with a second medicine, misoprostol, for about 20 years now to terminate pregnancies without requiring a surgical procedure. That federal judge ruled that the FDA exceeded its authority when it permitted this use of the drug, a federal appeals court reversed part of his ruling but left other parts intact, and the Supreme Court is deciding whether to extend that stay or let it expire. There’s a contradictory ruling from another federal judge, in the state of Washington, so this whole legal mess is bound to wind up before the Supreme Court at some point anyway.
Its ultimate resolution could have a profound effect on women’s reproductive health, so for more, KCBS Radio news anchors Patti Reising and Bret Burkhart spoke with KCBS Political Analyst Doug Sovern and Dr. Ushma Upadhyay, a professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive sciences at UCSF and co-director of the UC Global Health Institute’s ANSIRH, which stands for Advancing New Standards In Reproductive Health.
