Representative Nancy Mace (R., S.C.) on Monday suggested the FDA should ignore a Texas judge’s recent ruling that suspended approval of the abortion pill mifepristone, arguing that the court lacks legitimate oversight of the federal agency when it comes to drug approval.
Asked by CNN’s Kaitlin Collins in an interview whether she would follow the urging of progressive congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and defy the court order, Mace replied: “I would.”
“This is an FDA-approved drug. I support the usage of FDA-approved drugs even if we might disagree. It’s not up to us as legislators to decide, or even as a court system,” she said. “I agree with ignoring it at this point but there are other lawsuits that are happening in other states over this issue.”
Republican @NancyMace says she believes the FDA should ignore the Texas judge’s ruling. “This is an FDA approved drug. Whether you agree with its usage or not, that’s not your decision. That is the FDA’s decision.” pic.twitter.com/wGJBunurcL
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) April 10, 2023
On Friday, U.S. district judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk revoked the FDA’s 2000 approval of mifepristone, which can terminate pregnancies in the first-trimester in conjunction with a second drug, misoprostol, on the basis that it “acquiesced on legitimate safety concerns.”
Kacsmaryk, a Trump-appointed justice, stayed his opinion for seven days to give the Biden administration the opportunity to challenge it. On Monday, the Department of Justice announced it would be appealing to the 5th Circuit Court.
Mace claimed U.S. district judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk invoked an archaic law from the 1800s that was later overturned by the Supreme Court. Calling herself pro-life, Mace criticized Republicans for not showing “compassion” towards women on the abortion issue. The vast majority of Americans, she said, would not agree with the court’s decision.
On the same day as the Texas ruling, a federal court in Washington state issued a rival ruling, preliminarily barring the FDA from “altering the status quo and rights as it relates to the availability of Mifepristone under the current operative January 2023 Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy … in Plaintiff States.”
The case that Kacsmaryk weighed in was launched in November by by Alliance Defending Freedom on behalf of the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, an organization of pro-life medical groups, as well as four pro-life doctors.
The lawsuit argues that the FDA never had the authority to approve the two-pill chemical-abortion regimen decades ago and that the agency neglected a thorough assessment of the drug combination’s safety for the patient.