2023-04-22 03:42:40
- Joe Biden, president of the United States, assured that the pill will remain available while the legal dispute is over. Main photo. EFE
The Supreme Court of the United States (USA) decided on Friday, April 21, to block the restrictions on the abortion pill mifepristone that an appeals court had ordered last week, so that women will continue to have access to the drug, at least for now. .
The decision means keeping the status quo on access to medication unchanged, while the Court of Appeals decides on the legality of the approval that US regulators gave the drug more than 20 years ago.
The institution in question – that of the Fifth Circuit, which includes the states of Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi – approved restricting access to mifepristone while evaluating the decision of a Texas judge to completely prohibit access to the pill, which is used for more than half of the abortions in the country.
The ruling marks the first time the Supreme Court has ruled on an abortion case after its controversial decision in July 2022 to remove the constitutional protection it had enjoyed since the 1970s, sparking an avalanche of restrictions in conservative-ruled states. .
Biden administration defends the use of mifepristone
In a message celebrating the Supreme Court’s decision, US President Joe Biden stressed that “mifepristone continues to be available and is approved for safe and effective use as we continue our battle in the courts.”
Biden assured that his administration will continue to defend the approval of mifepristone by regulators, and declared that he will continue to “fight politically motivated attacks on women’s health.”
Two of the most conservative judges on the court, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, disagreed with the decision made this Friday.
The ruling returns the case to the Court of Appeals, which has set the date for the start of oral arguments for May 17.
At the center of the legal dispute is the health authorization that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave mifepristone 23 years ago.
Texas federal judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, nominated by former President Donald Trump (2017-2021), ordered on April 8 to withdraw the health authorization for the abortion pill.
Until what period of gestation can the pill be used?
The order was appealed by the Joe Biden government and a Louisiana appeals court stipulated that the drug was only available until the first seven weeks of pregnancy, three less than previously, and that it had to be picked up in person, among other restrictions.
But the Department of Justice raised the case to the Supreme Court alleging that the restriction would have serious consequences for women and for the pharmaceutical industry, for which the high court has had to intervene.
The organization Planned Parenthood, which runs the largest network of reproductive health clinics in the country, celebrated the decision on Friday, April 21, but warned that women’s health should not be at the mercy of the judicial system.
We are relieved that access to mifepristone will continue to be protected while this meritless case proceeds. We can take a breather, but without losing vigilance,” the organization’s president, Alexis McGill Johnson, said in a statement.
For its part, the main group of conservative lawyers that asked the Supreme Court to maintain the restrictions of the appeals court, the Alliance for the Defense of Freedom, limited itself to recalling that the case must still be resolved in court.
“We look forward to a final resolution of this case that will hold the FDA to account,” attorney Erik Baptist, who belongs to the group, said in a statement.
US Vice President Kamala Harris, who has led the White House’s response to successive abortion restrictions approved in various conservative states, also welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision, although she defended that “no one should interfere between a woman and her doctor.”
With information from EFE…
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