Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said the Biden administration is leaving its options open in its defense of a federal judge’s ruling last week to ban abortion medication mifepristone, the most commonly used method of abortion nationwide – even as some Democrats are urging the federal government to ignore the decision.

What You Need To Know

  • Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said the Biden administration is leaving its options open in its defense of a federal judge’s ruling last week to ban abortion medication mifepristone, the most commonly used method of abortion nationwide

  • U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee in Amarillo, Texas, overruled decades of scientific approval and put on hold federal approval of mifepristone

  • Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., want the Biden administration and the FDA to ignore the Texas ruling

  • “Everything is on the table. The president said that way back when the Dobbs decision came out,” Becerra said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday

“Everything is on the table. The president said that way back when the Dobbs decision came out,” Becerra said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, calling the ruling a “reckless decision.” 

“Every option is on the table,” he added.

But Becerra was reluctant to say if the administration would ignore the ruling if it took effect next week, something that prominent Democratic lawmakers have called for, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.

Instead, Becerra expressed hope the case would move through the courts quickly and come out in the administration’s favor.

“I gotta believe that an appeals court, the Supreme Court, whatever court, has to understand that this ruling by this one judge, overturns not just access to mifepristone, but possibly any number of drugs,” Becerra said.

The drug, mifepristone, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration more than two decades ago and is widely supported among leading medical associations as safe and effective. 

But on Friday, a Texas federal judge put a hold on the FDA’s approval of the medication, set to go into effect after seven days. In quick succession, a federal judge in Washington state made an opposite decision Friday, ordering the administration not to make any changes that would restrict access in 17 Democratic states.

The decision will now be passed to a higher court and likely reach the Supreme Court, which last year undid Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that legalized abortion 50 years ago.

Ocasio-Cortez, and Wyden want the Biden administration and the FDA to ignore the Texas ruling by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee. The judge in Washington was appointed by former President Barack Obama.

“The reality of our courts right now is very disturbing. This ruling is an extreme abuse of power. It is an extraordinary example of judicial overreach. The grounds of the ruling are just completely discredited and without grounds,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a separate CNN interview Sunday. “I do not believe that the courts have the authority, have the authority over the FDA that they just asserted and I do believe that it creates a crisis.”

Ocasio-Cortez explained, in her view, the FDA should ignore the ruling under the precedent of “agency nonacquiescence,” a controversial practice where federal agencies can disregard court rulings that contradict the agency’s interpretation of judicial precedent.

In a statement Friday, Wyden said “there is no way this decision has a basis in law. It is instead rooted in conservatives’ dangerous and undemocratic takeover of our country’s institutions.” He believes the FDA has the authority to disregard the ruling and encouraged the agency and President Joe Biden to do just that.

“The FDA, doctors, and pharmacies can and must go about their jobs like nothing has changed and keep mifepristone accessible to women across America,” Wyden said.

In the wake of the Dobbs decision, the Supreme Court case that resulted in the overturning of Roe v. Wade, 13 Republican-controlled states have effectively banned abortion, with several others restricting abortions to the early weeks of a pregnancy, according to a legislative tracker maintained by the New York Times.

In this context, Ocasio-Cortez said a ban on abortion medication, the most common form of abortion in the United States, would mean the country will “essentially have a ban on abortion,” though she conceded there would still be some workarounds.

“We would have taken a very significant step towards a national abortion ban,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “We are in extremely dangerous territory.”

In a statement after the ruling Friday, President Joe Biden said the decision is “the next big step toward the national ban on abortion” and vowed to fight it in court. The Department of Justice has filed an appeal.

Other Democrats, including Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto, argue the Texas ruling should be undone through the courts and the federal government should not ignore it outright.

"We can't ignore the ruling. I believe in the rule of law," Cortez-Masto said on MSNBC's "Inside with Jen Psaki" on Sunday. "It is important that we let it play out in the courts, but we continue to fight in the courts. Listen, this is a call to action for everyone, whether it's in the court system, whether it's when we go to vote."

On Sunday, Becerra said the ruling was reflective of one judge’s personal views on a specific medication and not reflective of the mainstream scientific consensus on a pill that was first approved as safe in 2000. 

“When you turn upside down the entire FDA approval process, you’re not talking about just mifepristone, you’re talking about every kind of drug,” Becerra said. “You’re talking about our vaccines, you’re talking about insulin, you’re talking about the new Alzheimer’s drugs that may come on. If a judge decides to substitute his preference, his personal opinion for that of scientists and medical professionals, what drug isn’t subject to some kind of legal challenge?”

The Texas federal judge agreed with the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian group that sued to block FDA approval of mifepristone and helped bring the case that overturned Roe v. Wade, writing in his decision that the FDA did not fully review the safety of the medication.

“The Court does not second-guess FDA’s decision-making lightly.” Kacsmaryk wrote. “But here, FDA acquiesced on its legitimate safety concerns — in violation of its statutory duty — based on plainly unsound reasoning and studies that did not support its conclusions.”

In an amicus brief filed with other leading public health organizations, the American Medical Association wrote mifepristone “is one of the most studied medications prescribed in the nation” and major adverse events are “exceedingly rare.” Millions of Americans have used the drug in the last 23 years, according to federal data.

“The scientific evidence supporting its safety and efficacy is ‘overwhelming’ and ‘on par with common painkillers like ibuprofen and acetaminophen’ that more than 30 million Americans take daily,” the AMA said in an article summarizing the brief. “Evidence shows patients are at least 14 times more likely to die of complications during childbirth than during any abortion procedure.”

The Associated Press contributed to this article.