Texas judge suspends approval of abortion pill mifepristone

A Texas federal judge on Friday ruled that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) "stonewalled judicial review" of its decades-old approval of the ‘morning after’ abortion pill mifepristone (marketed by Danco Laboratories under the trade name Mifeprex) and agreed to stay the effective date of the drug's approval.

This is seen as a watershed ruling that could dramatically restrict abortion access in the USA, where medication abortion has become the most common method to terminate pregnancies.

But shortly after, a conflicting ruling came out of another federal court in Washington state, ordering the FDA to refrain from taking any action that would affect the pill’s availability. The two rulings throw the future of the drug into question, increasing the chances that the supreme court will ultimately decide its fate.