BOSTON — A federal judge in Texas may have ordered a popular abortion drug off the market -- but that decision isn’t going to affect Massachusetts residents -- at least in the short term.
At a statehouse press conference Monday, Governor Maura Healey and other political leaders unveiled a plan to stockpile an approximately one-year supply of mifepristone. Those 15,000 doses were procured by the University of Massachusetts - Amherst.
Healey said healthcare providers in the state are also stocking up on mifepristone -- and her administration has allocated $1 million to help some of them do that.
“Our team was thinking about this the last three weeks -- what could happen,” Healey said.
What actually happened is that a group known as the Alliance Defending Freedom prevailed in its lawsuit against the FDA in an Amarillo, Texas courtroom last Friday. The Alliance charged that the FDA improperly approved mifepristone -- by putting it on a fast track. That route, the group argued, is reserved for drugs that treat serious, life-threatening illness and that offer a significant benefit over other therapies.
The Alliance said that, for one thing, the FDA improperly defined pregnancy as a ‘serious illness.’
Mifepristone was approved in 2000 -- and is now in wide use for medication abortions. In the U.S., it is coupled with the drug misoprostol to terminate pregnancies up to 10 weeks. Mifepristone works by antagonizing progesterone, a hormone vital for pregnancy. It has an excellent safety and side effect profile.
Healey said it was no accident the Alliance Defending Freedom chose to file their suit where they filed it.
“Their latest crusade took them to a single federal court judge in Amarillo, Texas, handpicked by Donald Trump, who has a history of making radical decisions to restrict women’s freedom,” she said. “When it goes into effect, it could ban mifepristone nationwide -- even in states like Massachusetts where abortion is legal -- or at least that’s the concern.”
Healey stressed that nothing has changed in Massachusetts regarding the availability of abortions -- including ones that rely on mifepristone administration. In fact, she signed an executive order Monday confirming the right to an abortion is protected under state law. The order also protects prescribers, providers, and patients using mifepristone.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren also attended the press conference. She said there’s an immediate fight and a long-term one.
“A judge has made a politically motivated decision to override doctors, patients, and medical experts and block access to critical medications,” Warren said. “Today, we are saying collectively, loud and clear, not on our watch.”
The long-term fight?
“The only way that we will put a stop to this is at the ballot box,” said Warren.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said she was ‘sickeningly mad’ that, once again, abortion rights have been successfully challenged.
“I am not going to talk about how clueless it is for extremists who say they care about the sanctity of family to take away the very safety and health care and protections that make it possible for so many to map out their lives,” Wu said. “I’m not going to talk about how this is a dangerous distraction from the real work that should be happening across the country. When our young people are worried about losing their lives from mass shootings. When cities are burning from climate change and we haven’t gotten our act together to figure out what to do at the national level.”itch to using only the second drug.
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