Watch: Protesters gather outside Texas hearing to pull abortion pill off market

Protesters gathered outside a Texas courthouse as a hearing took place on whether to pull an abortion pill off the market.

The motion was put forward by a coalition of anti-abortion groups - the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine - to pull mifepristone, a drug used in medication abortion.

Mifepristone is used together with misoprostol to end a pregnancy that is less than 70 days. It blocks the hormone progesterone, which supports a pregnancy to continue.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, more than half of all US abortions are carried out via medication. Than Half of All US Abortions

U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk is overseeing the hearing. It is not confirmed when he will issue his decision on the matter.

The anti-abortion groups filed a lawsuit in November 2022 alleging that the Food and Drug Administration did not appropriately evaluate mifepristone’s safety before it was approved for use in 2000.

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