Ruling on Abortion Pill is “Devastating And Unprecedented”

Suzanne Bell, an assistant professor in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, made the following statement regarding the ruling from Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk in Amarillo, TX, that suspends the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, which could deny women in all 50 states – even where abortion rights are protected – access to the abortion pill. 

“The Texas ruling on mifepristone is devastating and unprecedented, and it is a clear example of political ideology interfering with well-established science. Mifepristone is an incredibly safe medicine that has been used in the U.S. for more than 20 years and is approved for use in approximately 80 other countries. This will not stop medication abortions from occurring in the U.S., it will simply force healthcare providers to rely on the misoprostol-only regimen, which, while still very safe, is somewhat less effective and causes more uncomfortable side effects. This ruling is another attempt to interfere with the delivery of evidence-based healthcare and control pregnant people’s bodies.”

Professor Bell is also available to discuss the ruling and women’s health in the post-Dobbs era. 

Media contact: Kristine Henry khenry39@jhu.edu

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Additional resources: 
Reproductive Risks and Rights in the Age of Dobbs (Global Health Now)
Advancing Reproductive Justice For All (Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health Magazine)
'A FULL-THROATED REVERSAL' OF ABORTION RIGHTS (Johns Hopkins) 
If Roe Falls (Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health Magazine) 
Stop Unsafe Abortions Everywhere (Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health Magazine)