California has confirmed it is stockpiling a reserve of up to two million abortion bills in response to a recent ruling by a federal judge that suspended the FDA’s authorization of the abortifacient drug mifepristone.

Speaking on Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said that the state would ignore a ruling issued by an “extremist” judge in merely the latest example of his administration disregarding federal law.

“In response to this extremist ban on a medication abortion drug, our state has secured a stockpile of an alternative medication abortion drug to ensure that Californians continue to have access to safe reproductive health treatments,” he wrote in a press release. “We will not cave to extremists who are trying to outlaw these critical abortion services. Medication abortion remains legal in California.”

He continued:

While California still believes Mifepristone is central to the preferred regimen for medication abortion, the State negotiated and purchased an emergency stockpile of Misoprostol in anticipation of Friday’s ruling by far-right federal judge Matthew Kacsmaryk to ensure that California remains a safe haven for safe, affordable, and accessible reproductive care.

More than 250,000 pills have already arrived in California, and the State has negotiated the ability to purchase up to 2 million Misoprostol pills as needed through CalRx. To support other states in securing Misoprostol at a low cost, California has shared the negotiated terms of the purchase agreement with all states in the Reproductive Freedom Alliance.

“Today’s announcement reaffirms California’s commitment to lead the fight against extremist attempts to take away the fundamental right to reproductive care,” added Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis. “I applaud Governor Newsom’s swift action to ensure that Californians and those who seek care here can continue to access safe abortions.”

His announcement came just days after a federal judge in Texas issued a preliminary injunction undoing the FDA’s approval of mifepristone nationwide. However, a separate ruling issued in Washington state may restrict the scope of the injunction in Texas, throwing the issue into a state of legal uncertainty.

According to the FDA, mifepristone is utilized in combination with misoprostol to end pregnancies within the first ten weeks of gestation. Although a National Institutes of Health (NIH) study indicates that misoprostol alone can effectively terminate a pregnancy, the FDA has not authorized it for this specific purpose.

The Biden administration is currently contesting the decision made by a federal judge in Texas that raised doubts about the legal status of mifepristone. The Supreme Court is expected to eventually have to rule on the case.

Last week, there were reports that the Biden administration was also considering ignoring the ruling after calls from hard-left Democrats such as New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to do just that. However, Kamara Jones, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services, later played down those reports by confirming that the agency would only fight the case through proper legal processes.

“People are rightly frustrated about this decision — but as dangerous a precedent it sets for a court to disregard FDA’s expert judgment regarding a drug’s safety and efficacy, it would also set a dangerous precedent for the administration to disregard a binding decision,” Jones said. “We are confident that the law is on our side.”