tonight breaking news and what is now the most consequential ruling since the supreme court overturned roe versus wade trump appointed federal judge has just suspended the fda approval for a widely used abortion drug. that means the drug called mifepristone could soon be banned nationwide, even in states where abortion remains legal. now, this is a hugely consequential ruling. the drug has been on the market for more than 20 years and used and more than half of all abortions in this country. we have reporters covering this story across the country for us, but first let s start with ariane de vogue, outfront live and washington, ari. and what else can you tell us so far about this judge s decision? absolutely right. this is the biggest ruling we ve had since last spring, when the supreme court reverse roe v. wade here, this federal judge has halted the approval of this popular medication abortion pill. now what s important orton . here is he s put this ruling on hold for a wee
supreme court. now, i know there s a draft opinion, and it was leaked and it purports to say that, yes, the writing is on the wall. and no one should be naive to the prospect that roe v. wade may, in fact, be overturned. and yet, roe v. wade, again, sitting here today is still supposed to be the law of the land until the supreme court officially says otherwise. but for some governors and abortion clinic operators, the leaked opinion was enough. it s given license to governors to try to anticipate that overturning roe v. wade, according to that opinion, will allow them to decide the issue. remember, alito wanted it to go back to the states. it s about having the individual states being the one to decide how their state will operate. and because of it, some governors are now signing legislation accordingly or hoping to be able to soon. and for some abortion clinic operators, well, state abortion bans have made them stop providing the service entirely out of fear of being sued.
Drugs that have been safe for 23 years, so this has tremendous, tremendous implications across the country. and we how soon can we see that appeal from the doj? oh, i think they re gonna file it next week. this judge, this district court judge has put his own ruling on hold for seven days and i think the doj needs to be ready to act and act quickly. now this will go to the fifth circuit court of appeals, which is traditionally seen as the most conservative of our 13 federal circuit courts of appeals. now the way it will work is a panel of three judges will be randomly assigned. they will rule on the case. and then the losing party there can try to get the case in front of the u. s supreme court, which of course overturned overturned roe v. wade just last year, so i think the future of this ruling is very much in doubt. now there are some important indications if you look back at the dobbs decision, which over overturned roe v. wade that some of the justices who voted to overturn roe v.
Supreme court. now, i know there s a draft opinion, and it was leaked and it purports to say that, yes, the writing is on the wall. and no one should be naive to the prospect that roe v. wade may, in fact, be overturned. and yet, roe v. wade, again, sitting here today is still supposed to be the law of the land until the supreme court officially says otherwise. but for some governors and abortion clinic operators, the leaked opinion was enough. it s given license to governors to try to anticipate that overturning roe v. wade, according to that opinion, will allow them to decide the issue. remember, alito wanted it to go back to the states. it s about having the individual states being the one to decide how their state will operate. and because of it, some governors are now signing legislation accordingly or hoping to be able to soon. and for some abortion clinic operators, well, state abortion bans have made them stop providing the service entirely out of fear of being sued.
Something that has been in effect for, you know, almost 50 years could no longer be something that will be available to women, that a medical procedure, and i think what a lot of people are trying to do now is to really reframe this discussion, you know, that this is about women s health, and this is not a political issue. but it does make a lot of people worry, is this just the first step into a more polarised supreme court s? this really had quite a chilling effect, even for those that didn t believe that roe v wade should have even been enacted or plugged into the constitution, and i think that is really some of the conversations that are happening now, just really about the supreme court. . ., now, just really about the supreme court. ., ,, , ., now, just really about the supreme court. ., ,, i. ,., now, just really about the supreme court. ., ,, i. . now, just really about the supreme court. ., ,, . ., court. 0k, thank you so much for that. court. 0k, thank you so much for that- r