The abortion pill soon banned in the United States?

His verdict had been expected since February. On Friday, April 7, Texas Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ruled: mifepristone will be temporarily withdrawn from the market. A significant decision, which adds to the long list of restrictions on reproductive and sexual rights that have swept across the United States since last July’s repeal of Roe v. Wading. The latter had until then guaranteed the right to abortion on American soil. Approved for more than twenty years, mifepristone is used by half a million American women each year.

The abortion pill, the ultra-conservative bete noire

Abortion pills are targeted by anti-abortionists as soon as they are responsible for 53% of abortions in the United States. Last November, a coalition of doctors and anti-abortion organizations dubbed the Hippocratic Medicine Alliance filed a lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration, accusing it of botched the approval process for mifepristone in 2000 for purely political reasons, to the detriment of patient safety and health: There is evidence that the FDA has faced intense political pressure to waive its safety precautions in order to further the political goal of expanding abortion access This appeal was strategically filed in Amarillo, Texas, where the sole federal judge, Matthew Kacsmaryk, is known for his ultra-conservative stances.

After more than a month of deliberation, the latter therefore decided to agree with them, despite the scientific consensus, suspending the sale of mifepristone, while the US Medicines Agency reviews the entire procedure. This verdict comes just days after the state of Wyoming’s decision to ban the abortion pill, and would apply to all of America.

The United States Medicines Agency and the Justice Department are appealing

But Joe Biden’s government has not said its last word. On Monday, April 10, he appealed to a federal appeals court asking it to grant access to the abortion pill in the United States, as long as the legal battle over his authorization continues. In a press release, the government reiterates it the mifepristone is ” safe and effective »recalling that, contrary to what the federal judge stated, “ serious side effects are extremely rare “.

As related AFP extension“ a coalition of Democratic states took legal action in late February to try to preserve this pill “, pending the Matthew Kacsmaryk conservative verdict he felt was coming. An hour after the suspension was announced, Washington State Judge Thomas Rice barred the health agency from taking “any action to remove mifepristone from the market or to reduce the availability of the medicine in the 17 Democratic states that had seized it, said the New York Times.

Following the appeal filed by the federal government, the case must be heard by the New Orleans Court of Appeals, also known for its conservatism. In the event that the decision adopted is the same as that of the Texan judge, it will therefore be up to the Supreme Court to decide. However, six of the nine justices who sit there were nominated by Republican presidents…

In the face of this legal mess, many states started stockpiling abortion pills. Like our colleagues from the World“ Washington State has ordered 30,000 doses of mifepristone, Massachusetts State has purchased 15,000 doses. In California, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that he has stockpiled two million misoprostol tablets “. Currently, this drug is used with mifepristone for greater efficacy and less pain, but it is still possible to use it alone, as some countries already do. Several clinics would therefore be preparing to modify their protocols, to administer only this substance , in case mifepristone were to be banned completely.The next few weeks will probably be decisive.