Top Drug Execs Say Texas Abortion Pill Decision ‘Ignores Science’

The leaders of the country’s largest pharmaceutical companies offered a scathing response to a court decision invalidate FDA approval abortion medication mifepristone.

More than 400 of the senior executives in the pharmaceutical industry ruled against the ruling by Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas last Friday.

In their letter, published by The New York Times, the leaders called for the ruling to be overturned, saying it “ignores decades of scientific evidence and legal precedent.”

The statement, which was signed by the heads of Pfizer and Biogen, denounced the decision as an attempt to curtail the autonomy of the FDA and asserted that the approval of any drug could be jeopardized “if courts can revoke drug approvals without take science or evidence into account.

Kacsmaryk ruled that the FDA improperly approved mifepristone for use in 2000, arguing that the agency “manipulated and misinterpreted” his studies “to give the green light to large-scale elective chemical abortions.”

Since then, the FDA has defended mifepristone as a “safe and effective” option for premature abortion.

Judge Kacsmaryk’s ruling is already being challenged in court. TO federal judge in washington it contested the decision in court on Friday, ruling to protect access to mifepristone. The Department of Justice also issued a flash appeal.

Some Democratic politicians are calling on the Biden administration to ignore the ruling entirely. On Sunday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DN.Y.) told CNN’s “State of the Union” that the White House has “discretion” on how to enforce the sentence.

That same day, the Secretary of Health and Human Services of the United States, Xavier Beccera called the ruling “reckless” on CNN, telling Dana Bash that the Biden administration was considering “every option” available.

Kamara Jones, HSS spokesperson The possibility returned later that day on Twitter, saying that while people are “justly frustrated,” any interference would set a “dangerous precedent” for the executive branch.

Although many red states have tried limit access to abortion, an increasing number of patients turn to the pill to terminate their pregnancy. even before the fall of roe v. Wade in 2022, it was estimated half of abortions in the US were carried out through medicines.