Wisconsinites Weigh In After Texas Judge's Block On Abortion Pill

WISCONSIN — Although it remains illegal for a doctor to perform an abortion in Wisconsin, leaders and activists in the Badger State are speaking up after a series of federal court rulings put access to a commonly used abortion pill in question.

The Food and Drug Administration approved mifepristone in 2000, and the medication has since become the most common form of abortion since, according to a report by The Associated Press. But access to it is coming after question after Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ordered a hold on its approval last week, as almost simultaneously, a U.S. District Judge appointed by Obama, Thomas O. Rice, ordered it must remain available, the AP report said.

On Tuesday, Democrat Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul joined a coalition of 23 other states' attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in an appeal against Kacsmaryk's decision to block the drug. In a statement, Kaul called the Texas judge's court order "misguided."

The brief urges that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit stays the ruling, which would otherwise halt a two-decade-old FDA approval. The coalition warned that revoking the approval "will drastically reduce access to safe abortion care and miscarriage management for millions of people across the country, endangering lives and trampling states’ authority to protect and promote access to abortion."

"Obstructing access to mifepristone would lead demand for procedural abortions to significantly increase, resulting in later and more risky procedures, and more complicated and costly logistics for many patients, especially those where procedural abortion is unavailable," said a news release from Kaul's office. "Moreover, lack of access to safe abortion care leads to worsened health outcomes and higher mortality, especially for Black women."

Activists with Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin called the decision to block mifepristone politically motivated.

“This is another devastating, politically motivated attack on the safest, most effective medical care for women seeking medication abortion or treatment for a miscarriage early in pregnancy,” said Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin’s Medical Director, Dr. Kathy King in a news release. “Mifepristone is a safe, effective medication used by more than 5 million people since the FDA’s approval more than 22 years ago. The majority of patients seeking abortion choose medication abortion using mifepristone as a safe, effective method within the first 11 weeks of pregnancy.”

Meanwhile, activist group Reproductive Justice Action-Milwaukee is planning to hold a rally at the Milwaukee County Courthouse Saturday at 3 p.m. to demand access to safe and legal abortion. The group also plans on calling for Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm to sign a pledge saying he won't prosecute abortion cases.

The threat against access to mifepristone comes as Wisconsin engages in its own debate over access to abortion at large. Democrats in the state are suing in an effort to return state abortion law to where it was before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. More recently, a liberal-backed candidate for the state's supreme court who campaigned largely on abortion rights won over a conservative.

In the same April 4 election, over 75 percent of Milwaukee County voters agreed the current abortion ban should be changed. Some Republicans in the state at one point did propose a law that would provide exceptions for abortion, but it quickly came under bipartisan criticism.