U.S. judge hands anti-abortion groups partial win over abortion pill

A federal judge on Friday halted federal regulators' approval of the abortion pill mifepristone while a legal challenge proceeds, partially granting a request by anti-abortion groups and dealing another setback to abortion rights in the United States. The 67-page ruling by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Amarillo, Texas, allows the Biden administration one week to appeal the decision, according to court documents. The injunction will remain in place until the judge makes a final judgment or it is reversed on appeal.

A federal judge on Friday halted federal regulators' approval of the abortion pill mifepristone while a legal challenge proceeds, partially granting a request by anti-abortion groups and dealing another setback to abortion rights in the United States.

The 67-page ruling by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Amarillo, Texas, allows the Biden administration one week to appeal the decision, according to court documents. Representatives for White House could not be immediately reached for comment.

Kacsmaryk's ruling is a preliminary injunction that would essentially ban sales of mifepristone while the case before him continues. The judge, who was appointed to the bench by former President Donald Trump, did not rule on the merits of the challenge. The injunction will remain in place until the judge makes a final judgment or it is reversed on appeal. Some abortion providers have said that if mifepristone is unavailable, they would switch to a regimen using only misoprostol for a medication abortion. However, the misoprostol-only regimen is not as effective, and it is not yet clear how widely available it would be.

(Reporting Alexia Garamfalvi and Brendan Pierson in New York, and Mike Scarcella and Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Will Dunham, Bill Berkrot and Susan Heavey)

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