Florida and Texas moved to join a federal lawsuit aiming to roll back access to mifepristone by revoking FDA approval or banning telemedicine prescriptions. Telehealth has enabled thousands to obtain abortion pills in states where abortion is prohibited. The filing names Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee who issued a 2023 ruling attempting to rescind mifepristone's federal approval. The Supreme Court previously ruled that anti-abortion doctors lacked standing to sue, but state intervention could provide a plausible plaintiff. If Texas joins and the judge allows it, the Justice Department might stop seeking dismissal and the case could return to the Supreme Court.
Florida and Texas made a quiet move last week that could have huge implications nationwide: Their attorneys general asked to join a federal lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration that seeks to drastically roll back access to the main abortion drug, mifepristone. The states argue that the medication's FDA approval should be revoked or, failing that, that telemedicine prescriptions should be once again banned. Telehealth has allowed thousands of people to get abortion pills in states where the procedure is prohibited.
The judge with whom they filed the request is Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Donald Trump appointee in Amarillo, Texas, notorious for his 2023 ruling purporting to rescind federal approval of mifepristone. That was in an earlier iteration of the abortion pill case, which is still stalking abortion access like a zombie. Last we heard, the Trump administration said that three state AGs, none of whom are from Texas, should not be able to continue a lawsuit that was originally filed by a group of anti-abortion doctors.
That never meant that the legal threat to mifepristone was gone, of course-just that the physicians weren't the right plaintiffs. And now Texas especially appears to think that it could present a better vehicle for the case. If Kacsmaryk allows the state to join the litigation, the Justice Department may no longer argue that the suit should be dismissed, and the case could once again return to the Supreme Court.
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