Donaldo Hernandez, M.D., President of the California Medical Association (CMA), issued the following statement in response to the decision made by a judge in the Amarillo division of the Northern District of Texas in the lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over its approval of mifepristone:

“The judge’s ruling today is yet another violation of patients’ right to evidence-based reproductive health services and represents a further erosion of the individual’s legitimate right to private health choices. It is a direct attack on the practice of medicine and the patient-physician relationship and signals that attacks on reproductive freedom will continue well into the foreseeable future.  

“Mifepristone is safe, effective, and has been used by more than five million people since the FDA approved it more than 20 years ago. Taking mifepristone off the market would significantly compromise abortion access across the country — including in California.  

“As physicians, we at CMA believe it is critical that patients have access to vital, often life-saving reproductive health services. 

“Absent a successful appeal or emergency relief, this decision will strip personal reproductive health decision-making away from patients, undo decades of progress and have wide-ranging and devastating health impacts on patients.”