Abortion Pill to Be Blocked Nationwide Under Judge’s Order

  • Trump-appointed judge upends FDA approval of mifepristone
  • Opposing ruling may mean Supreme Court tackles abortion again

Demonstrators during an abortion-rights protest.

Photographer: Jill Connelly/Bloomberg
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A Republican-appointed federal judge in Texas issued an order suspending the US government’s decades-old approval of a key drug used in medication abortion, initiating a process that could block access to the pill nationwide in a week.

But his order Friday was almost immediately contradicted by a Democratic-appointed judge in Washington state who affirmed the US Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone and blocked the government from restricting access.