It said a district judge's order would be appealed.
The Justice Department on Monday filed an emergency stay motion with the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals seeking to block the order from a federal judge in Texas striking down the FDA's approval of the abortion medication drug mifepristone.
"Rather than preserving the status quo, as preliminary relief is meant to do, the district court upended decades of reliance by blocking FDA’s approval of mifepristone and depriving patients of access to this safe and effective treatment, based on the court’s own misguided assessment of the drug’s safety," the DOJ said.
"The district court took this extraordinary step despite the fact that plaintiffs did not seek relief for many years after mifepristone’s original approval, waited nearly a year after the most recent FDA actions they seek to challenge, and then asked the court to defer any relief until after a final resolution of the case," the motion reads.
Used boxes of Mifepristone pills, the first drug used in a medical abortion, fill a trash at Alamo Women's Clinic in Albuquerque, N.M., Jan. 11, 2023.
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters, FILE
The DOJ said the district court’s extraordinary and unprecedented order should be stayed pending appeal. it argued the plaintiffs lack standing to challenge the FDA’s approval of a drug they neither take nor prescribe; their challenge to FDA actions dating back to 2000 is manifestly untimely; and they have provided no basis for second-guessing FDA’s scientific judgment.
"Those defects foreclose plaintiffs’ claims, and the court flouted fundamental principles of Article III and administrative law in holding otherwise. Indeed, no precedent, from any court, endorses plaintiffs’ standing, timeliness, or merits theories," the DOJ said."The court’s sweeping nationwide relief was especially unwarranted given the balance of harms: If allowed to take effect, the court’s order would thwart FDA’s scientific judgment and severely harm women, particularly those for whom mifepristone is a medical or practical necessity. This harm would be felt throughout the country, given that mifepristone has lawful uses in every State. The order would undermine healthcare systems and the reliance interests of businesses and medical providers. In contrast, plaintiffs present no evidence that they will be injured at all, much less irreparably harmed, by maintaining the status quo they left unchallenged for years."
"The district court granted a seven-day administrative stay. This Court should extend the administrative stay pending resolution of stay proceedings in this Court and, if necessary, the Supreme Court. The Court should then stay the district court’s order pending appeal," the DOJ said."The government requests that this Court enter an administrative stay or grant a stay pending appeal by noon on April 13, to enable the government to seek relief in the Supreme Court if necessary. Plaintiffs oppose a stay pending appeal and an administrative stay, while Intervenor consents."
This is a developing story., Please check back for updates.
