Making her first remarks on a Texas judge’s decision to halt the approval of a medication abortion pill, Vice President Kamala Harris said the decision set “a dangerous precedent.”
Harris spoke to reporters at an airfield in Nashville on Friday after meeting with Democratic lawmakers in Tennessee.
“It is contrary to what makes for good public health policy to allow courts and politicians to tell the FDA what it should do,” Harris said.
The vice president noted the FDA approved the drug, mifepristone, 20 years ago, and said it has been “proven to be safe” in the two decades since.
Harris said she would have more remarks after reviewing the judge’s ruling. President Joe Biden has yet to publicly weigh in on the case.
“As a general matter, I’ll say that there is no question that the president and I are going to stand with the women of America and do everything we can to ensure that women have the ability to make decisions about their health care, their reproductive health care,” Harris said.
Remember: There are two major decisions on medication abortion that came down in short succession this evening. After the Texas judge’s ruling on mifepristone, a second federal judge ruled the drug must remain on the market in at least 12 Democratic-led states.
The two decisions mark the most significant abortion-related rulings since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year.
CNN’s Sam Fossum contributed to this report.
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