Oregon's Wyden urges Biden administration to ignore Texas judge's abortion pill ruling

PORTLAND, Ore. — A federal judge in Texas on Friday ordered that access to a common abortion pill be put on hold across the country, and then minutes later a federal judge in Washington ordered the Food and Drug Administration to keep the drug accessible.

The dueling rulings put the medication mifepristone, which has been available for more than 20 years, in limbo.

Not long after the rulings, Oregon’s senior U.S. senator, Ron Wyden, a Democrat, told KATU in a telephone interview that the president and the FDA should ignore the Texas judge’s ruling.

"I think there's no basis for this ruling in law, and I think that the Biden administration can and must ignore the judge and keep mifepristone on the market and this medication available for every woman in America," he said.

The judge’s ruling was certainly unprecedented, as there has been essentially no precedent for a single judge to overrule the FDA’s medical decisions.

The FDA approved mifepristone in 2000 and the drug is considered to be one of the most common medications for terminating early pregnancies.

The Trump-appointed Texas judge issued the preliminary injunction, blocking the drug nationally, but the injunction doesn’t go into effect immediately.

Attorneys with the federal government have seven days to appeal and said in court filings that they will be challenging the order in the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court.

The Washington judge’s preliminary injunction was in response to 18 states, including Washington and Oregon, that asked the court to block any federal action that would restrict access to mifepristone. The judge’s ruling technically only applies to those states.

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum told KATU that she expects mifepristone to remain accessible in the 18 states, which includes the District of Columbia.

"At least for now ... the status quo will remain. And the status quo is that mifepristone will be available and accessible," Rosenblum said, adding that she hopes more states join their case.

It is possible for the Texas case to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled last year in its Dobbs decision that abortion-related issues should be decided by states.

Rosenblum said she does not want the country's high court to take up the case.

"The United States Supreme Court should not take this case because it should be a matter for the states, as they said," Rosenblum said. "What happened in Texas, happened in Texas. I hope it stays in Texas."

In a written statement released soon after KATU’s telephone interview, Wyden said the order by the Texas judge is “rooted in conservatives’ dangerous and undemocratic takeover of our country’s institutions."

"The FDA, doctors, and pharmacies can and must go about their jobs like nothing has changed and keep mifepristone accessible to women across America. If they don't, the consequences of banning the most common method of abortion in every single state will be devastating,” he said.

Other Democrats in Oregon also slammed the Texas judge’s ruling.

Gov. Tina Kotek called the ruling “shameful” and “dangerous.”

"As we sort out the impact of this ruling, hear me loud and clear: abortion is still accessible and legal in Oregon. As your Governor, I believe in the right to reproductive freedom and will continue to be a fierce advocate for that right," she said in a statement.

In a news release, the Oregon Health Authority said mifepristone is safe and effective and in 2021 medication was used in nearly 60% of the abortions performed in Oregon.

"OHA is committed to ensuring access to a full range of essential reproductive health services, including abortion," it wrote in a news release. "State health officials are reviewing the federal court decisions in consultation with the Oregon Department of Justice and the office of Gov. Tina Kotek. OHA wants to reassure patients and providers that mifepristone and abortion remain safe, legal and available in Oregon."

Oregon Right to Life's executive director, Lois Anderson, praised the Texas judge's ruling.

"[The ruling] finally holds the FDA accountable for fast-tracking the abortion drug, in violation of its own rules," she said in a news release. "The FDA prioritized their political agenda over the lives of women when they neglected due diligence to expand abortion."

Oregon Right to Life argues the pills are dangerous. It cited a 2021 study by the Charlotte Lozier Institute that found emergency room visits increased after an abortion pill was used.