Hospitals and clinics that perform most of the abortions in Massachusetts say they will disregard restrictions on use of the abortion pill mifepristone, detailed in a federal appeals court decision late Wednesday. Providers say they are protected in doing so by state abortion laws and the common practice of "off-label" drug use.
Here are six statements from the decision, which attempts to invalidate the FDA’s approval of the drug, that medical experts said are either inflammatory, inaccurate, or both.
The judge’s ruling, and the FDA’s response, will largely dictate what the suit might mean for Massachusetts, and there are a variety of possible outcomes.
The question over access to mifepristone, which was approved over 20 years ago by the FDA, will likely be settled in a federal appeals court or at the US Supreme Court, a Massachusetts legal observer said Friday.