People keep asking me what the Texas abortion pill case means for abortion in Texas and across the country. The headlines sure make it sound like it could abolish pill abortions entirely.

Usually, to get the real story we have to read deeper than the headlines. In fact, sometimes the headlines are downright misleading.

The first thing you need to know is that in the U.S. the transition from surgical abortions to medication abortions was well underway even before the Dobbs decision last year. Reports indicate that in 2020 well over 50% of reported abortions were already being committed with pills instead of surgical procedures.[1]

That data doesn’t even include self-managed abortions committed by women without the oversight of the traditional healthcare system of clinics and doctors (a problem we’ve documented before).

Today’s demand for abortion relies heavily on the supply of abortion pills, so it’s no surprise that Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA (AHM v. FDA), the recent Texas court case challenging the FDA’s 2000 approval of an abortion pill, mifepristone, is getting a lot of attention.[2]

What is really going on with the Texas abortion pill case?

What is this case all about?

AHM v. FDA is challenging the FDA approval of the drug mifepristone for use in abortions. AFM asserts that the FDA did not follow a legal approval process for mifepristone and that the health of women and girls who take the drug for abortions is potentially at risk.

Does this ruling make medication abortion illegal?

No. This case is not about whether medication abortion in general should be legal or illegal in Texas or anywhere else, and it does not change any state laws restricting or allowing abortion.

What was the ruling?

The April 7th ruling from Texas Federal District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk put a halt on the FDA approval of mifepristone.

Then the FDA filed an appeal to the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals which, in turn, issued a temporary stay on Judge Kacsmaryk’s halt of the FDA approval for mifepristone.

The 5th Circuit Court has delayed the effect of Judge Kacsmaryk’s decision on the FDA approval of mifepristone for medication abortion, but it allowed other parts of his ruling to take effect. For the time being, this restricts how and when the drug is used while still keeping it available on the market. Among other things, it revokes FDA approval for telehealth appointments, domestic mail order transmission of mifepristone, and restricts use to the first 7 weeks of pregnancy.

This case is already headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Today, Friday, April 14, President Joe Biden asked the Court to intervene and put an emergency stay on the entire ruling.

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito issued a temporary administrative stay on the entire ruling which will expire at 11:59 PM on Wednesday April, 19, 2023. This stay does not necessarily reflect the Court’s opinion on the case, but will allow time for review before the ruling of the lower court can take effect.

If it doesn’t make abortion pills illegal, will it at least make them unavailable?

Mostly no. This case is only about the specific drug, mifepristone. It will not directly affect other drugs used for medication abortions.

If you aren’t aware of how it works, mifepristone is one drug in a two-drug regimen utilized for most U.S. medication abortions.

Typically, mifepristone is taken first by a mother to block progesterone, a hormone required to maintain a pregnancy. Then 24-48 hours later she takes a second drug, misoprostol, to induce labor and expel the dead baby from her uterus.

While this case could hinder or eliminate the legal availability of the first drug, mifepristone, for now it does not affect other medications like misoprostol from remaining on the U.S. market.

Medication abortions using just misoprostol without mifepristone are common around the world and endorsed by organizations like the World Health Organization and Doctors Without Borders.[3] If mifepristone is taken off the market, single-drug medication abortions using misoprostol are already being promoted as an alternative in the U.S.[4]

In addition to that, the options for women to self-manage their own abortions outside the formal healthcare system are rapidly expanding. Abortion pills, including mifepristone, are easily available to women through organizations like Aid Access which allow anyone to place an online order for abortion pills and deliver them directly to your mailbox. Many of these pills are shipped from India or other off-shore pharmacies and likely will not be directly affected by the FDA approval status.[5]

Will this ruling help abolish abortion?

Many people want to know if this ruling is a step in the right direction.

I would say both yes and no. And even the yes is not nearly as significant as some have made it.

Clearly, the FDA should never have approved mifepristone, or any other drug, for the specific use of murdering preborn people. Murdering people is not legitimate healthcare. It never has been and it never will be no matter what the FDA says about it.

To that extent, it is a good thing that FDA approval for mifepristone for the specific use of abortion is being challenged and I would be glad if it gets totally revoked.

But abolishing abortion has never been about merely making abortion more difficult to access or regulating the means and methods.

First and foremost, abolishing abortion is about criminalizing the act of causing the death of a preborn human being with criminal intent. It’s about providing the equal protection of the homicide laws to all people. If we aren’t willing to do that, then we aren’t loving our preborn neighbors as ourselves.

There will always be another method of killing or a new weapon to go after. 50 years of abortion regulations should have taught us that.

As Christians and as abolitionists we understand that ultimately we are not fighting pills, we are fighting child sacrifice. We are fighting against, and working to restrain, the murderous intent that the Bible tells us comes out of the human heart. Good laws restrain evil. And when those laws are violated, they provide an avenue for justice.

Prenatal homicide will not be abolished by regulating access to one murder weapon. Attempting to abolish abortion by regulating mifepristone is similar to attempting to reduce homicides of born people by regulating guns.

We should all know that guns don’t murder people, murderers do. And if someone intent on murder cannot get a gun, they can just use something else. Our laws should not allow for that. The same is true for abortion pills (at least some of which have other legitimate uses). Pills don’t murder preborn babies on their own, someone has to take them.

The most obvious thing to do is to make it illegal for everyone to murder children. It’s not rocket science.

Being an abolitionist means we hold the “extreme” position that murdering anyone should be illegal for everyone.

To do that, we should give the least of these—little ones in the womb—the equal protection of the laws.

That is what God commands us to do.

It’s what the Constitution requires us to do.

And it should be what love compels us to do for the sake of our littlest neighbors.

For life, for justice, and for the glory of God,

Bradley Pierce
President
Abolish Abortion Texas
Foundation to Abolish Abortion

_{https://www.guttmacher.org/news-release/2022/guttmacher-institute-releases-2020-abortion-provider-census-important-data-us}
_{https://adflegal.org/case/alliance-hippocratic-medicine-v-us-food-and-drug-administration}
_{See https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/97415/9789241548717_eng.pdf and also see, https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/how-have-safe-self-managed-abortion}
_{https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/04/10/1168857095/misoprostol-only-medical-abortion}
_{https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-03/roe-v-wade-us-women-turn-to-cheap-abortion-pills-from-india}