LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Nevada lawmakers and officials have voiced their concerns following dueling federal rulings over the legality of an abortion medication that has been available for over 20 years.
Friday, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, appointed by former President Donald Trump, ordered a hold on the federal approval of mifepristone, one of the two drugs used for medical abortions in the U.S. The injunction that Kacsmaryk signed, directed the Food and Drug Administration to hold the drug’s approval while a lawsuit challenging the safety and approval of mifepristone continued.
The 67-page order gave the government seven days to appeal.
However, the ruling came at almost the same time as U.S. District Judge Thomas O. Rice, appointed by former President Barack Obama, ordered that U.S. authorities not make any changes restricting access to mifepristone in at least 17 states where Democrats sued to protect availability to the drug, including Nevada.
Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford issued a statement Friday evening:
“Today’s ruling preserves access to mifepristone for Nevadans,” Ford said. “Over the past 20 years, mifepristone has proven to be safe and effective, as continually affirmed by the FDA based on scientific evidence. I will continue to fight for Nevadans’ right to reproductive healthcare, and, in particular, access to mifepristone.”
In a video posted to Twitter, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nevada, voiced her contempt following Kacsmaryk’s ruling stating, “It is outrageous that a single judge in Texas just effectively banned the most commonly used abortion pill nationwide, including in pro-choice states like mine in Nevada.”
Her tweet also read, “This judge’s ruling is bull—-. I won’t stop fighting to protect our reproductive freedoms.”
Democratic Congresswoman Dina Titus of Nevada said in a Tweet Friday evening, “I’ve said before that the campaign to undermine women’s reproductive freedom didn’t end when Roe was overturned. I won’t apologize for defending a woman’s right to choose, including choosing abortion medication. This ruling is out of step and dangerous.”
Democratic Congresswoman Susie Lee said: “Remember when they said this was about states’ rights? It never was. With a single ruling, one Texas judge has blocked every woman’s right to access safe, FDA-approved medication abortion. We will not back down. We will not let extreme Republicans ban abortion nationwide,” in a Tweet Friday.
The lawsuit in Texas challenging the approval of mifepristone alleges that the FDA’s initial approval was flawed because it did not sufficiently review its safety risks. The lawsuit was also filed by the Alliance Defending Freedom, which was also involved in the Mississippi case that led to the overturn of Roe v. Wade.
In a Twitter thread Friday, President Joe Biden stated that his administration is going to fight the ruling and that the U.S. Department of Justice will file an appeal.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
