Abortion in the US
First modification:
The highest judicial stay in the North American country momentarily protected access to the medication most used by Americans for abortion after a Texas judge restricted its access two weeks ago. The judges who are part of the institution thus agreed to the emergency requirements of the Executive of Joe Biden and the pharmaceutical company in charge of its manufacture.
American women will continue to have present access to the abortion pill mifepristone, the most widely used in this nation. This is how the Supreme Court ruled after two weeks of controversy and requirements launched from the Biden Administration and the company that makes this drug after a judge in Texas restricted its use.
Your access will be fully guaranteed while the legal battle over the future of abortion continues in several states. This decision has surprised many defenders of this right, since this same Supreme Court -which currently has a conservative majority- was the same one that eliminated the right to abortion at the federal level after contradicting the famous ruling in the case ‘Roe vs. Wade’ from 1973. A 50-year throwback that sparked controversy across the United States and resonated across the globe.
Today, the Supreme Court stayed a decision that would have undermined FDA’s medical judgment and put women’s health at risk.
As a result, mifepristone, an FDA-approved drug for medication abortion, remains available and approved.
—President Biden (@POTUS) April 21, 2023
The use of this drug has been authorized in the United States since the year 2000 and it has been used by more than five million people after it obtained the go-ahead on that date from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Mifepristone is used in combination with a second drug, misoprostol, in more than half of all abortions in the United States.
The ultra-conservative Texas judge tried to make access to the medication legal only during the first seven weeks of pregnancy -and not the current ten- and only after having gone to a medical consultation and not freely, something that made its use especially difficult. for low-income people who cannot afford a consultation in the expensive US healthcare system.
The Supreme Court had originally said it would decide by Wednesday whether the restrictions could take effect while the case continued. This caused alarm bells to go off regarding the final decision of the High Court since, apparently, there was no explanation for this decision.
Finally, the majority of the court ruled that the arguments that allowing the entry into force of the restrictions contained in lower court rulings would seriously disrupt the availability of mifepristone were compelling. Despite this, two judges from the institution -Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas- voted in favor of applying the restrictions.
Thomas, did not justify his decision. For his part, Alito mentioned in his statement that the Biden administration, which has been a defender of the FDA since various groups acted against it on the grounds that it improperly approved mifepristone more than 23 years ago, and Danco, the company that markets the drug, “have not shown that women are unlikely to suffer irreparable harm after use.”
He also dismissed concerns that “regulatory chaos” would ensue if the Supreme Court enforced restrictions on mifepristone.
On the other hand, he accused the FDA of evading the necessary procedures as an agency, including judicial review, echoing the ruling issued by a lower court regarding the case.
Democrats and Abortion Advocates Celebrate High Court Ruling
The use of the pill mifepristone has been the new arena in the fight for legal abortion in the United States since the same Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 decision ‘Roe v. Wade’, which guaranteed abortion throughout the country as a constitutional right, during the summer of 2022.
One of the Democrats who has spoken out in defense of women and the use of the mifepristone pill has been President Joe Biden, who has stated that his administration will continue to fight “to protect access to mifepristone in the ongoing legal battle ”.
“I continue to support the evidence-based approval of mifepristone, and my administration will continue to uphold the FDA’s independent and expert authority to review, approve, and regulate a broad range of prescription drugs,” the president said.
Likewise, Biden stated that the discussion should move from the judicial level to a broader political panorama, for which he urged voters to bring the issue of abortion to the polls in the next elections.
“Let’s be clear, the American people must continue to use their vote as their voice and elect a Congress that will pass legislation restoring ‘Roe v. Wade,’” Biden added.
On the other hand, some Democrats and abortion advocates, despite praising the April 21 decision, recalled that the ruling is a provisional appeal while the court case continues.
“This fight is not over. Extremist Republican politicians continue to undermine the rights of women to make their own health care decisions across the country,” Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote on Twitter.
Despite attack after attack from right-wing judges, mifepristone remains safe and legal. But this fight is not over. Extremist Republican politicians continue to chip away at women’s rights to make their own health care decisions across the nation.
—Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) April 21, 2023
Along the same lines, Democratic Senator Cory Booker spoke on the networks, posting on his personal Twitter account that “the right to abortion in the United States is under attack. Since conservatives on the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, 13 states have completely banned abortions; and on April 7, an unelected judge in Texas issued a sweeping decision rescinding the FDA’s approval of the drug mifepristone.”
But contrary to the Democrats, members of the Republican Party were silent on the decision. Representative figures such as former President Donald Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and congressional party leaders did not comment on the decision, according to Forbes.
Similarly, anti-abortion groups such as the National Committee for the Right to Life also had no immediate comment.
With AP, Reuters and US media
