Abortion providers prepare for Texas outcome

Lawsuit in state could determine if abortion pill is legal everywhere

(Melissa Grant)

An impending ruling in a Texas lawsuit will determine the future of abortion care for at least the short term. Abortion providers have contingency plans in place should that happen. 

Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, of the Northern District of Texas, will decide whether the Food and Drug Administration has the right to permit mifepristone for wide use. That is the first pill used in a two-drug regimen to cause abortion. The ruling, which is expected soon, will likely be challenged whatever the outcome. 

Repro Rights Now spoke to Melissa Grant, the chief executive officer of Carefem, an abortion provider that offers telemedicine. Grant said antiabortion lawyers are targeting the drug so it will be blocked in every state

“For how long? We don't know,” Grant said. 

The second dose, Misopristol, still works as an abortion agent without the first pill. But the effectiveness of the treatment decreases from around 99 percent to about 95 percent. Still, the option remains. 

“I look for them to go after that next,” Grant said. 

Carafem was already providing misoprostol only during the Trump administration because the former president had targeted mifepristone too. Grant said that it was necessary to remember how long these medications have existed.

“It's devastating to think that a small number of people who have a political axe to grind can make the decision better than a pregnant person in their physician about what's right for them,” Grant said.