Pro-choice and pro-life advocates discuss abortion pills amid Texas court case

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - Wisconsin pro-choice and pro-life organizers are watching a federal Texas court case closely as the ruling could impact access to abortion pills.

A Texas federal judge will rule on a case where a conservative organization alleged the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) did not follow proper protocol when legalizing abortion pills Mifepristone and Misoprostol in 2000.

State Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) previously worked as an attorney advocating for reproductive healthcare. She believes at-home abortion pills should be legal, especially since the 1849 Wisconsin law came back into effect and banned abortions from happening inside healthcare facilities.

“For somebody in a state where abortion is criminalized it’s really important to have medication abortion as an option,” Sen. Roys said. “Overturning Roe was the beginning of the anti-choice movements work, not the end. They want to see abortion end nationwide.”

Sen. Roys said the Texas court case is the result of extremism and predicted similar court cases could arise in Wisconsin.

”The fight isn’t between really between Republicans and Democrats,” she said. “It’s between normal Republicans in Wisconsin, who are voters, and the very extreme right wing politicians in this building that hold power.”

Anti-abortion organization Wisconsin Family Action President Julaine Appling said the Texas court case is valid and caused by the FDA not doing their job.

“The drug is administered at home by the woman it’s self-administered, and we don’t believe the FDA has warned women enough, given the drug enough study, and put it through the processes that would be appropriate for something like this,” Appling said.

UW Law School Professor John Gross said the federal judge’s decision in Texas could challenge medication abortion access across the United States.

Gross called the Texas case “judicial activism” and said he was surprised a conservative judge would allow their own values to interfere with the court of law.

“This would be an interference in an administrative agency that followed the proper procedure, and had authority to do this delegated to them by congress,” he said. “All of the medical evidence supports that the FDA was correct. The drug is safe and by some studies safer than other commonly used medications like penicillin.”

The ruling from the Texas judge is expected to be made soon.

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