The ruling was appealed by the Biden administration as lawmakers, including Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DN.Y.), urged President Joe Biden to use his executive powers to protect the availability of drugs even earlier. Hundreds of thousands of patients in the United States use the drug for both abortion and miscarriage.
Mace sided with the outspoken Democrats, the first Republican to do so publicly.
“This is an issue that Republicans have been largely on the wrong side of,” he said. “For the last nine months, we have shown no compassion towards women, and this is one of those issues where I have tried to lead as someone who is pro-life and just has some common sense.”
Mace said there was «no basis» for the ruling, explaining that the Texas judge cited a Supreme Court decision, which was later overturned, for his decision.
Over the weekend, Rep. Tony Gonzalez (R-Texas) floated the idea of defunding FDA programs if the ruling is ignored. When asked about those comments, Mace stressed that most Americans are not radically opposed to abortion access and would likely agree with the FDA’s authority to allow the sale of the drug.
“We are making a mistake on this issue,” he said. “We have to show some compassion to women, especially women who have been raped. We have to show compassion on the issue of abortion because, by and large, most Americans are not with us on this issue.»