"Today a single federal district judge in Texas ruled that a prescription medication that has been available for more than 22 years, approved by the FDA [Food and Drug Administration] and used safely and effectively by millions of women here and around the world, should no longer be approved in the United States. The Court in this case has substituted its judgment for FDA, the expert agency that approves drugs," the statement said on Friday.
If this ruling were to stand, there will be no FDA-approved prescription "that would be safe from these kinds of political, ideological attacks," Biden said, specifying that mifepristone is used for medication abortion, which accounts for over half of the abortions in the United States. The ruling would also prevent women across the country from accessing this medication, irrespective of whether abortion is legal in a state, he added.
The US president called the move another step in "taking away basic freedoms from women and putting their health at risk" and toward "the national ban on abortion that Republican elected officials have vowed to make law in America."
The US Department of Justice has filed an appeal against the Texas judge's ruling, the statement said.
Previously US Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk blocked federal approval of mifepristone. The plaintiffs noted that the drug underwent a fast-approval procedure during Bill Clinton's tenure and this procedure is applicable only to substances that couteract diseases. Since pregnancy is not a disease, federal approval is illegal.