Dear John,

As you may have heard, last night, two critical and conflicting legal decisions regarding the status of Mifepristone, a safe and effective drug commonly used in medication abortions, emerged from federal courts. Hours after those decisions, the Department of Justice filed an appeal. Before we get into it: please know that the current status of Mifepristone will not change for at least seven days.

In the first ruling, Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, an extreme anti-abortion federal judge in Texas, blocked the FDA’s long-standing approval of Mifepristone [[link removed]] in a cynical effort to eliminate access to an extremely common medication used in abortion care and miscarriage management. His decision, riddled with inflammatory anti-abortion rhetoric and false statements, flies in the face of medical standards, public opinion, and 20+ years of evidence. The ruling is not scheduled to go into effect for seven days, giving the Department of Justice time to appeal to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Soon after Judge Kacsmaryk’s ruling, Judge Thomas Rice, a federal judge in Washington State, responded to a lawsuit filed by Attorneys General from 17 states seeking to protect access to Mifepristone. Judge Rice ruled that the FDA is prohibited from changing the availability [[link removed]] of this safe and effective drug, including imposing further restrictions, or pulling it from the market.

Shortly after both rulings were circulating, the Department of Justice filed a Notice of Appeal [[link removed]] in response to Judge Kacsmaryk's ruling, noting their strong disagreement with the decision and their commitment to protecting access to legal reproductive health care.

Yet again, access to abortion is left in legally unprecedented and stressful waters, with the uncertainty weighing heavily on those seeking abortions and those who care for and who love them. While we work our way through these court rulings and wait for the next legal proceedings to play out, we urge those who support abortion access to take care of themselves and each other, and if you have an appointment for medication abortion care: keep it. We are also busy calling on state and local governments to continue efforts to safeguard and expand access to abortion care.

We know this is an incredibly stressful time to access abortion care. NIRH and our colleague organizations will continue to assess these legal decisions and do all we can to ensure everyone has access to the abortion care they need, on their own terms, and in their own community.


In solidarity,
Andrea Miller
President, NIRH and NIRH Action Fund







National Institute for Reproductive Health
14 Wall St
Suite 3B
New York, NY 10005
United States

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