Access to the most commonly used method of abortion in the U.S. plunged into uncertainty Friday following conflicting court rulings over the legality of the abortion medication mifepristone, which has been widely available for more than 20 years.For now, the drug the Food and Drug Administration approved in 2000 appeared to remain at least immediately available in wake of two separate rulings that were issued in quick succession by federal judges in Texas and Washington.U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee, ordered a hold on federal approval of mifepristone in a decision that overruled decades of scientific approval. But that decision came at nearly the same time that U.S. District Judge Thomas O. Rice, an Obama appointee, essentially ordered the opposite and directed U.S. authorities not to make any changes that would restrict access to the drug in at least 17 states where Democrats sued in an effort to protect availability.The extraordinary timing of the competing orders revealed the high stakes surrounding the drug nearly a year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and curtailed access to abortion across the country.The Justice Department swiftly gave notice it would appeal the Texas ruling and said it was reviewing the decision from Washington.The whiplash of the conflicting decisions is likely to put the issue on an accelerated path to the Supreme Court.바카라 게임 웹사이트�FDA is under one order that says you can do nothing and another that says in seven days I바카라 게임 웹사이트�m going to require you to vacate the approval of mifepristone,바카라 게임 웹사이트� said Glenn Cohen of Harvard Law School.Abortion providers slammed the Texas ruling, including Whole Woman바카라 게임 웹사이트�s Health, which operates six clinics in five states and said it would continue to dispense mifepristone in person and by mail over the next week as they review the rulings.The abortion drug has been widely used in the U.S. since securing FDA approval and there is essentially no precedent for a lone judge overruling the medical decisions of the Food and Drug Administration. Mifepristone is one of two drugs used for medication abortion in the United States, along with misoprostol, which is also used to treat other medical conditions.Kacsmaryk signed an injunction directing the FDA to stay mifepristone바카라 게임 웹사이트�s approval while a lawsuit challenging the safety and approval of the drug continues. His 67-page order gave the government seven days to appeal.바카라 게임 웹사이트�Today바카라 게임 웹사이트�s decision overturns the FDA바카라 게임 웹사이트�s expert judgment, rendered over two decades ago, that mifepristone is safe and effective,바카라 게임 웹사이트� U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said. 바카라 게임 웹사이트�The Department will continue to defend the FDA바카라 게임 웹사이트�s decision.바카라 게임 웹사이트�Clinics and doctors that prescribe the two-drug combination have said that if mifepristone were pulled from the market, they would switch to using only the second drug, misoprostol. That single-drug approach has a slightly lower rate of effectiveness in ending pregnancies, but it is widely used in countries where mifepristone is illegal or unavailable.The lawsuit in the Texas case was filed by the Alliance Defending Freedom, which was also involved in the Mississippi case that led to Roe v. Wade being overturned. At the core of the lawsuit is the allegation that the FDA바카라 게임 웹사이트�s initial approval of mifepristone was flawed because it did not adequately review its safety risks.Courts have long deferred to the FDA on issues of drug safety and effectiveness. But the agency바카라 게임 웹사이트�s authority faces new challenges in a post-Roe legal environment in which abortions are banned or unavailable in 14 states, while 16 states have laws specifically targeting abortion medications.Since the Texas lawsuit was filed in November, legal experts have warned of questionable arguments and factual inaccuracies in the Christian group바카라 게임 웹사이트�s filing. Kacsmaryk essentially agreed with the plaintiffs on all of their major points, including that the FDA didn바카라 게임 웹사이트�t adequately review mifepristone바카라 게임 웹사이트�s safety.바카라 게임 웹사이트�The Court does not second-guess FDA바카라 게임 웹사이트�s decision-making lightly.바카라 게임 웹사이트� Kacsmaryk wrote. 바카라 게임 웹사이트�But here, FDA acquiesced on its legitimate safety concerns 바카라 게임 웹사이트� in violation of its statutory duty 바카라 게임 웹사이트� based on plainly unsound reasoning and studies that did not support its conclusions.바카라 게임 웹사이트�Mifepristone has been used by millions of women over the past 23 years, and complications from mifepristone occur at a lower rate than that seen with wisdom teeth removal, colonoscopies and other routine medical procedures, medical groups have recently noted.Elsewhere, Kacsmaryk sided with plaintiffs in stating that the FDA overstepped its authority in approving mifepristone, in part, by using a specialized review process reserved for drugs to treat 바카라 게임 웹사이트�serious or life-threatening illnesses.바카라 게임 웹사이트� The judge brushed aside FDA arguments that its own regulations make clear that pregnancy is a medical condition that can sometimes be serious and life-threatening, instead calling it a 바카라 게임 웹사이트�natural process essential to perpetuating human life.바카라 게임 웹사이트�His order also agreed with plaintiffs in invoking a controversial 19th-century law that anti-abortion groups are now trying to revive to block sending abortion medications through the mail. Originally passed in 1873 and named for an 바카라 게임 웹사이트�anti-vice crusader,바카라 게임 웹사이트� the Comstock Act was used to prohibit the mailing of contraceptives, 바카라 게임 웹사이트�lewd바카라 게임 웹사이트� writings and 바카라 게임 웹사이트�instruments바카라 게임 웹사이트� that could be used in an abortion but was seldom invoked in the 50 years after Roe established a federal right to abortion.Kacsmaryk, though, agreed with plaintiffs that the law 바카라 게임 웹사이트� as literally interpreted 바카라 게임 웹사이트� prohibits mailing mifepristone.Anti-abortion groups, which are newly encouraged about their ability to further restrict abortion and prevail in court since last바카라 게임 웹사이트�s year바카라 게임 웹사이트�s reversal of Roe v. Wade, embraced the Texas ruling.바카라 게임 웹사이트�The court바카라 게임 웹사이트�s decision today is a major step forward for women and girls whose health and safety have been jeopardized for decades by the FDA바카라 게임 웹사이트�s rushed, flawed and politicized approval of these dangerous drugs,바카라 게임 웹사이트� said March for Life President Jeanne Mancini.Legal experts warned that the ruling could upend decades of precedent, setting the stage for political groups to overturn other FDA approvals of controversial drugs and vaccines.""바카라 게임 웹사이트�This has never happened before in history 바카라 게임 웹사이트� it바카라 게임 웹사이트�s a huge deal,바카라 게임 웹사이트� said Greer Donley, a professor specializing in reproductive health care at the University of Pittsburgh Law School. 바카라 게임 웹사이트�You have a federal judge who has zero scientific background second guessing every scientific decision that the FDA made."Still, because of the contradictory nature of the rulings, Greer and other experts said there would be little immediate impact.바카라 게임 웹사이트�In the short term, nothing바카라 게임 웹사이트�s going to change,바카라 게임 웹사이트� Greer said. 바카라 게임 웹사이트�This is the time to be preparing for the fact that in a week, potentially, mifepristone becomes an unapproved drug in this country.바카라 게임 웹사이트�___Perrone and Whitehurst reported from Washington. Associated Press reporter Gene Johnson contributed to this report from Seattle.