Texas abortion pill ruling could impact other FDA-approved drugs, vaccinations: HHS secretary

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said the move by a federal judge in Texas to block the approval of a type of abortion medication could have far-reaching effects on the status of other federally-approved medications and vaccinations.

A federal judge in Texas last week issued a stay that blocked the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of mifepristone, one of two abortion drugs that has been available for over two decades. Becerra said the judge’s decision turned the FDA’s approval process “upside down.”

“When you turn upside down the entire FDA approval process, you're not talking about just mifepristone,” Becerra said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “You're talking about every kind of drug. You're talking about our vaccines. You're talking about insulin. You're talking about the new Alzheimer's drugs that may come on.”

The FDA has appealed the ruling by the federal judge, who argued that the federal government’s approval process was rushed, concluding in an unsafe drug being put on the market. The judge argued the agency acted in “violation of its statutory duty.”

But Becerra argued the judge was inserting his “personal opinion” in the place of scientific conclusions, saying the federal government had to challenge the ruling “for America's sake and for women's sake.”

“If a judge decides to substitute his preference, his personal opinion for that of scientists and medical professionals, what drug isn't subject to some kind of legal challenge?” Becerra said. “So we have to go to court. And, for America's sake and for women's sake, we have to prevail in this.”

The move to block mifepristone by the federal judge in Texas is just one more domino that has fallen after the Supreme Court struck down federal protections for abortions last year. There is a chance that the mifepristone case reached the highest court in the country, and Becerra said that although there is a conservative majority, they should be able to forgo enforcing their own “personal judgment.”

“I don't care who the nine justices are on the Supreme Court or any court of appeal,” Becerra said. “They should be able to discern the difference between inserting their personal judgment and using the facts and evidence to make a legal ruling.”