Justice Samuel Alito, of the Supreme Court of the United States, temporarily suspended this Friday (14) lower court decisions that established limits on access to the abortion pill mifepristone at the national level.
According to information from the American press, the Joe Biden government and Danco, the company that manufactures mifepristone, had filed emergency actions this Friday to prevent the restrictions from taking effect this Saturday (15).
Last week, a Texas district judge had ordered the Food and Drug Administration (FDA, an agency similar to Anvisa) to withdraw the sanitary authorization for mifepristone, which has been in force since 2000.
On Wednesday (12), the US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit allowed the drug to continue to be sold, but stipulated that access to it should be limited.
The court ordered the return of rules prior to 2016, which prevented the mailing of the pill to patients assisted by telemedicine or who make contact over the internet with organizations that supply the drug, which should only be picked up in person at hospitals and clinics.
The restrictions would come into effect this Saturday, but, with Alito’s decision, the pill will continue to be made available until next Wednesday (19). The judge determined that the American government and Danco should pronounce on the process until the beginning of the afternoon of Tuesday (18).
According to the Guttmacher Institute, 54% of abortions in the United States in 2022 were performed with abortion pills like mifepristone or misoprostol.
Last year, the US Supreme Court overturned the nearly 50-year-old Roe v. Wade and returned to allowing American states to freely legislate on abortion. As a result, several states have reactivated, enacted, or passed pro-life laws. Alito was the author of the text of the decision that overturned the 1973 understanding.
This week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a law passed in the local Parliament that reduces the period for performing abortions in the state from 15 to six weeks of gestation.
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