Connecticut officials said the abortion pill mifepristone will continue to be available in the state despite a federal judge's order in Texas overturning the FDA's approval of the drug.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee, ordered a hold on federal approval of mifepristone, the most commonly used method of abortion in the U.S., in a decision last week that overruled decades of scientific approval.
The Justice Department quickly appealed the ruling, calling the decision “extraordinary and unprecedented.”
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said Monday he is confident the ruling will be overturned.
"It’s hard to overstate how deeply flawed this decision is," Tong said at a news conference with Gov. Ned Lamont, Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz and other legislators. “Dobbs was flawed, but this is borderline nonsensical in its analysis of the law and the regulatory process.”
On the same day last week the Texas judge sought to invalidate mifepristone, a federal judge in Washington state upheld the FDA's two decade-old approval of the drug. Tong’s office was one of the plaintiffs in the Washington state case.
The extraordinary timing of the competing orders revealed the high stakes surrounding the drug nearly a year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and curtailed access to abortion across the country.
“The ruling from Texas could severely undermine access to abortion in Connecticut and Rhode Island,” Amanda Skinner, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Southern New England,said in a statement. "While much remains unclear on the effects of these two rulings, for now, approval of mifepristone remains protected.”
This story has been updated. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
