Republican congresswoman says FDA should ignore ruling suspending abortion drug approval

(CNN) — A Republican congresswoman who represents a swing district in South Carolina urged the Food and Drug Administration on Monday to ignore a recent ruling by a federal judge suspending the approval of a medication drug used for abortion.

“This is an FDA-approved drug. I support the usage of FDA-approved drugs, even if we might disagree,” Rep. Nancy Mace told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on “This Morning.” “It’s not up to us to decide as legislators or even, you know, as the court system that whether or not this is the right drug to use or not.”

Mace considers herself “pro-life,” as does virtually every Republican office-holder on the national level. But in the wake of last year’s Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, the party has had to navigate a political landscape in which harsh restrictions on the procedure have proven politically unpopular.

“This is an issue that Republicans have been largely on the wrong side of,” Mace continued. “We have, over the last nine months, not shown compassion towards women, and this is one of those issues that I’ve tried to lead on as someone who’s ‘pro-life’ and just have some common sense.”

Mace’s comments on Monday align her with a position expressed by progressive Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who on Friday called for the ruling to be ignored, saying that if it was ultimately upheld by the Supreme Court, “it would essentially institute a national abortion ban.” But several Republicans, including Rep. Tony Gonzalez on CNN, have fiercely pushed back on the suggestion to ignore the ruling.

“Everybody’s welcome to their own opinion,” Mace said Monday. “I represent a very purple district that is really a bellwether for the rest of the country. And I can tell you, far more than the vast majority of 60-70% of Americans are not going to agree with this decision. And there are many pro-life people that, also while they’re pro-life, they don’t want the government to intervene in this radical of a manner, and the FDA has a rigorous process.”

On Friday, District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk issued a ruling to halt the decades-old approval of mifepristone, but he paused the ruling from taking effect for a week so it could be appealed, a process that is underway. With a pause leaving the ruling on hold amid appeal, lawmakers have been in flux.

In an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union” Sunday, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra would not say whether he believes the FDA should ignore the ruling and keep the drug on the market, but he maintained that the Biden administration is considering all options.

But HHS spokesperson Kamara Jones later attempted to walk back Becerra’s response.

“People are rightly frustrated about this decision — but as dangerous a precedent it sets for a court to disregard FDA’s expert judgment regarding a drug’s safety and efficacy, it would also set a dangerous precedent for the administration to disregard a binding decision.”

Democratic Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota told “CNN This Morning” on Monday that ignoring the ban “just throws us into another level of chaos that I don’t want to know where that ends up.”

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