Durbin Statement After Federal Judge Blocked Access to the Medication Abortion Pill Mifepristone

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today issued the following statement after a federal judge in Texas blocked the use of the medication abortion pill mifepristone—which the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved more than 20 years ago as safe and effective:

“This evening, a single federal judge in Texas issued a decision that seeks to deny millions of women across the country access to an FDA-approved medication that has been safely and effectively used for more than 20 years.  This draconian ruling is the latest in the disturbing post-Dobbs attacks from conservative judges and MAGA Republican politicians who believe they should have a say in a woman’s ability to make her own reproductive health care decisions.

“The decision also has devastating implications for our nation’s drug approval process and the ability of health care providers to ensure their patients can access FDA-approved medications.  As Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I will continue to work with my colleagues to resist Republicans’ radical, anti-choice agenda that ignores science and embraces judicial activism.”

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