A Texas federal judge is expected to decide whether to temporarily block access to a common abortion medication nationwide as soon as this week.
In the case, anti-abortion activists are seeking to overturn a decades old FDA approval for the drug mifepristone. They have requested a preliminary injunction while the case is pending in federal court. If granted, this could ban abortion pill access across the entire country for over a year since the ultra-conservative Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is likely to be sympathetic to the anti-abortion view. The legal question would then go to the U.S. Supreme Court where the conservative majority would have another opportunity to retract reproductive rights in America.
Meanwhile, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit challenging guidance that directed pharmacies to fill prescriptions for abortion-inducing medication. Paxton is seeking to prevent the abortion pill from coming into Texas by blocking it at national chain pharmacies.
Guests:
Eleanor Klibanoff: Texas Tribune Women’s Health Reporter
Rachel Rebouché: Dean of the Temple University Beasley School of Law, Dean Rebouché is a leading scholar in reproductive health law and family law. She is an author of Governance Feminism: An Introduction and an editor of Governance Feminism: Notes from the Field. She is also the editor of Feminist Judgments: Family Law Opinions Rewritten, published by Cambridge University Press, and an author of the sixth edition of the casebook, Family Law.
Reshma Ramachandran: MD, MPP, MHS is a board-certified family physician and health services researcher. Her research focuses on the realignment of incentives for healthcare stakeholders including pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, and universities towards prioritizing equitable patient access to safe, effective health technologies.
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*This interview will be recorded on Wednesday, February 22.
