A three-judge panel on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals hinted Wednesday that it was receptive to restricting the abortion pill mifepristone, The Hill reported.
During oral arguments, the trio interrogated attorneys from the Department of Justice and mifepristone manufacturer Danco Laboratories.
Deputy Assistant Attorney General Sarah Harrington received immediate pushback from Judge James Ho.
"I hate to cut you off so early," Ho said, interrupting Harrington after she claimed that a lower court's ruling that limited mifepristone distribution was an "unprecedented" intrusion upon the Food and Drug Administration's authority.
"[Y]ou've said 'unprecedented,'" he continued. "We had a challenge to the FDA just yesterday."
Two judges appeared hesitant to affirm all of the federal District Court for the Northern District of Texas' ruling, which held that the FDA's approval of mifepristone in 2000 should be suspended.
However, all three appeared sympathetic to the case laid out by the coalition of anti-abortion plaintiffs, who contended that the FDA failed to consider safety issues when it decided to increase the drug's availability.
"This case is not about ending abortion. It's about ending a particularly dangerous type of abortion," said Erin Hawley, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, a plaintiff in the case.
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