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Judge denies request to shield Virginia's access to abortion-inducing medication

A person holds a small white pill in one of their hands and grabs it with the other.
Charlie Riedel
/
AP File
A patient prepares to take the first of two combination pills, mifepristone, for a medication abortion during a visit to a clinic in Kansas City, Kan., on, Oct. 12, 2022.

A court in Washington state already granted the protection to 17 other states and the District of Columbia.

A federal judge has denied abortion providers’ request to shield Virginia from any future restrictions on the drug mifepristone.

Whole Woman’s Health Alliance in Charlottesville and Whole Woman’s Health in Alexandria — as well as providers from Montana and Kansas — sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in May. Attorneys for the providers asked Federal District Court Judge Robert S. Ballou in Charlottesville to bar the FDA from further limiting access to the drug in these states — protections a court in Washington state already granted 17 other states and the District of Columbia.

Conservative states across the county began rolling back abortion access following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last year to overturn the federal right to end a pregnancy.

Earlier this month, a ruling at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit kept mifepristone on the market for now but the case is likely headed to the Supreme Court.

VPM News is the staff byline for articles and podcasts written and produced by multiple reporters and editors.