Texas: On April 7, 2023, Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the Northern District of Texas made the court ruling to reverse the approval of the oral drug mifepristone.

The decision – which effects patients across the United States – is set to take effect on Friday. Despite the drug being on the market for over two decades, Judge Kacsmaryk ruled that the drug was ‘unsafe’ and ill-studied.

“This is something that can cause confusion. It’s something that can cause fear,” Dr. Gopika Krishna, a board-certified OB-GYN, told ABC News “And that affects our patients and our patients’ understanding of what’s available to them and what options are safe.”

Judge Kacsymark’s decision comes less than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade which granted Americans the constitutional right to an abortion.

Despite Judge Kacsmaryk making the ruling for Texas, the decision will affect mifepristone approval nation-wide; this includes all manufacture and distribution of the drug.

For a medical abortion, the medications mifepristone and misoprostol are taken orally. Typically, mifepristone is first taken as a hormone blocker, then within 48 hours, the misoprostol is taken to empty the uterus. Not only is mifepristone used for abortion care, it is also used for miscarriage care. With the majority of the abortions in the United States being done via medication, this ruling may affect millions.

Kacsmaryk has granted the U.S. Federal Government seven days to appeal the ruling.