- Ten Hag bemoans Man Utd's lack of killer instinct in Palace stalemate
- France's Macron appoints new government in shift to right
- Cheika proud of Leicester grit after winning start as boss
- Profligate Man Utd pay price in 0-0 draw at Palace
- Kane, Olise run riot as Bayern thump Bremen
- Diaz fires Liverpool top of Premier League, Man Utd held at Palace
- LIV champion Rahm out of LIV Team semis with severe flu
- Slot surprised by tearful Nunez's moment of magic
- Title rivals Norris, Verstappen on 'cool' front row for Singapore GP
- Biden talks China with 'Quad' leaders in hometown summit
- Juve and Napoli play out goalless draw in early Serie A title tussle
- Alcaraz fears tennis tour grind will 'kill us'
- Carey sparks recovery as Australia thrash England in 2nd ODI
- Leclerc, Sainz lament 'disappointing' Saturday in Singapore
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- Beirut digs for victims at building flattened in Israeli strike
- Verstappen stages protest over 'ridiculous' swearing punishment
- Bayern boss Kompany lauds 'special talent' Olise
- Diaz fires Liverpool top of Premier League, Spurs bounce back
- Heavy fire over Israel-Lebanon border after deadly Beirut strike
- Ramos guides unbeaten Toulouse to Montpellier win despite Hogg scuffle
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- Chelsea owners 'happy' with win at West Ham amid rift report
- Kane and Olise run riot as Bayern thump Bremen
- Ramos guides unbeaten Toulouse to Montpellier win
- Norris pips Verstappen to dramatic Singapore pole after Sainz crash
- Carey takes Australia to 270 in 2nd ODI against England after collapse
- Two Hezbollah leaders killed in Israel's Beirut strike
- Hungary Danube waters reach decade high after Storm Boris
- Bagnaia cuts Martin's MotoGP lead with Emilia-Romagna sprint win
- Jackson double fires Chelsea to victory at woeful West Ham
- Fiji beat Japan to lift Pacific Nations Cup
- Kasatkina to face Haddad Maia in Korea Open final
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- President Museveni's son backs Ugandan strongman for 7th term
- Norris quickest as Verstappen bounces back in Singapore practice
- Wallabies lament All Blacks' fast start
- Germany's Oktoberfest opens under tight security after attacks
- Environmental protesters block French cruise liner port
- Hezbollah in disarray after Israeli strike kills top commanders
- No place like home: Biden hosts 'Quad' leaders
- One dead, 7 missing as heavy rains trigger floods in central Japan
- Zelensky says no UK, US go-ahead to use long-range missiles
- New Zealand edge Australia 31-28 in Bledisloe Cup thriller
- Japan orders evacuations as heavy rains trigger floods in quake-hit area
- New Zealand pilot freed in Indonesia after 19 months in rebel captivity
- Hezbollah in disarray after Israeli air strike kills top commanders
- The BYD Seal Hybrid U DM-i AWD in a practical test by journalists
- Leading climate activist released from Vietnam jail
Court to hear lawsuit seeking to ban abortion pill in US
A Texas judge favored by anti-abortion activists will hear arguments Wednesday in an unprecedented challenge to the legality of a widely-used abortion pill.
US District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk announced Monday the hearing on a lawsuit alleging the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should never have approved the "dangerous" prescription drug Mifepristone in 2000.
Mifepristone, one component of a two-drug regimen used for medication abortion, has been used by an estimated 5.6 million women to terminate pregnancies since its approval, according to the FDA.
It is can be used in the United States up to 10 weeks of pregnancy.
The pro-abortion rights Guttmacher Institute estimates that more than half of all abortions involve the use of mifepristone.
But the Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian advocacy group, sued the FDA saying its approval "disavow(ed)" science, "ignored" potential health impacts and "disregarded" the complications that can arise with using mifepristone.
"The FDA failed America's women and girls when it chose politics over science and approved chemical abortion drugs for use in the United States," they said.
Galvanized by the Supreme Court's ruling in June that overturned the constitutional right to an abortion, abortion opponents have now set their sights on obtaining prohibitions on mifepristone.
Already the treatment has been halted in some 15 states which have banned all abortion since the 2022 Supreme Court decision.
The Texas suit seeks to block it nationally by overturning the FDA's approval of the drug.
The FDA has urged the judge to reject the request.
"The public interest would be dramatically harmed by effectively withdrawing from the marketplace a safe and effective drug that has lawfully been on the market for 22 years," it said.
Kacsmaryk was targeted by the plaintiffs to hear the case due to his deep conservative Christian beliefs and previous anti-abortion stance.
He had been expected since February 24 to issue a ruling in the case, which asks him to suspend the FDA's approval of the drug while the lawsuit proceeds.
Apparently fearing protestors descending on the courthouse in Amarillo, Texas, Kacsmaryk originally sought to keep the hearing secret until the last minute, but it leaked to media.
If he does order the suspension, it could leave pregnant women with the alternative of using only misoprostol, the second pill in the medication abortion treatment.
But using misoprostol alone is more physically traumatic than the two-pill procedure, and some fear doctors might be unwilling to prescribe it alone.
If mifepristone is banned, "access to medication abortion would end across the country -- even in those states where abortion rights are protected," the Center for Reproductive Rights said.
A.Jones--AMWN