The Supreme Court of the United States must rule this Wednesday on a abortion pill widely used in the country, which has been at the center of a legal puzzle since a judge sowed confusion by wanting to suspend its validity.
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Less than a year after revoke the constitutional right to abortion in the country, The conservative-majority high court was called to examine the issue by the Joe Biden government after conflicting court rulings.
Which At stake is access to the drug mifepristone throughout the United States.
One of the most used abortion methods, on the tightrope
In combination with another drug, mifepristone is used for more than half of all abortions in the United States. More than five million Americans have already taken it since its authorization by the US drug agency FDA more than 20 years ago.
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The current legal saga began when, following a lawsuit by a coalition of anti-abortion groups, a A federal judge in Texas withdrew the marketing authorization for mifepristone on April 7. Despite the scientific consensus, he considered it posed risks to women’s health.
The Biden administration appealed the ruling and an appeals court on April 12 allowed the abortion pill to remain licensed, but limited the ease of access granted by the FDA over the years: It restricted the use of the drug to seven weeks of pregnancy, instead of 10 , and prohibited its sending by mail.
The federal government then urgently appealed to the Supreme Court, that on Friday temporarily kept access to the abortion pill.
The Supreme Court will give its verdict
The Supreme Court ordered the stay of the appeals court’s decision to last until this Wednesday, just before midnight.
The parties had until noon on Tuesday to present their arguments. In his argument, the anti-abortion coalition that first brought the case against the FDA He urged the temple of American law to uphold the appeals court’s ruling.
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Otherwise, he said, “mifepristone will cause more physical complications, emotional trauma and even death for women.” And he added: “It will also harm plaintiffs by forcing them to perform abortions that violate their conscience.”
On his side, he Justice Department (DoJ), which is leading the opposition to the legal attack on the abortion pill, maintained that the initial court ruling was based on a “deeply misguided assessment” of the pill’s safety and also challenged the appeals court’s decision.
The DoJ urged the highest court to preserve full access to the medication pending a full hearing at the appellate level, or to deal with the case on an “expedited” basis before the recess that begins in late June.
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The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, it could decide to reinstate the restrictions placed at the appeal level, a total ban or some other configuration.
Regulatory chaos surrounding the abortion pill
A judge can do the same with vaccines or antidepressants you don’t like
Court rulings at various levels and temporary suspensions have created great uncertainty.
The new battle for mifepristone has become a “judicial ping pong” that it is “causing chaos and confusion,” according to Carrie Flaxman of the reproductive rights organization Planned Parenthood.
Ushma Upadhyay, a public health expert at the University of California, San Francisco, he deemed it “untenable” for providers and patients to live “under these ever-changing rules and interpretations.”
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Many fear these lawsuits will pave the way for courts to challenge other drugs.
“A judge can do the same thing with vaccines or antidepressants they don’t like,” said Josh Sharfstein, a former FDA official.
Since the The Supreme Court annulled last June the historic decision Roe v. Wade that had enshrined the constitutional right to abortion for half a century, some twenty states have prohibited or severely restricted access to abortion.
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Surveys show that a clear majority of Americans support continued access to safe abortion, even as conservative groups push to limit the procedure or ban it entirely.
According to the studies, pregnancies are terminated successfully in more than 95% of cases in which mifepristone is used. Serious complications (excessive bleeding, fever, infection, or allergic reaction) that require medical consultation are rare.
AFP
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