First modification: Last modification:
Federal judges in Texas and Washington handed down conflicting judgments on Friday, April 7, intensifying the legal battle over abortion. The confrontation is taking place over a commonly used abortion medication, the pill mifepristone.
The legal battle over the pill mifepristone has grown more intense since the US Supreme Court struck down the federal right to the procedure.
The abortion pill was at the center of two contrary sentences that were issued this Friday, April 7, by two federal courts.
Texas and Washington courts clashing
The first sentence was issued by a federal judge in Texas, who withdrew the authorization that the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had given the abortion pill more than 20 years ago, and which has a seven-day window for the Department of Justice appealed.
Also Friday night, in a dramatic legal turn in the opposite direction, a federal judge in Washington said the FDA must keep the abortion pill available in at least 12 states.
BACKGROUND ON THE PILL AND ITS USE
How widely used is the abortion pill?
According to the Guttmacher Institute, the pill accounted for more than half (53%) of the 930,160 registered abortions in 2020 by this organization that researches reproductive health and public policy in the United States; in 2008 the figure was 17% and in 2017 it was 39%.
While the number of so-called “medical abortions” has skyrocketed in the United States in recent years, it is still not as prevalent as it is in many European nations. In France, for example, abortions of this type represented 70% of the total in 2020.
How does it work?
The abortion pill is different from the “morning after” pill, which women can use after intercourse to prevent pregnancy.
The abortion pill is taken to induce an abortion once the woman confirms that she is pregnant.
In fact, it involves more than one pill. The first, mifepristone, also known as RU 486, stops the normal continuation of pregnancy by blocking the production of the hormone progesterone.
Another medication, misoprostol, is taken 48 hours later and causes cramping, bleeding, and empties the uterus.
Abortion pills can be used at home and do not require medical assistance.
When was the abortion pill approved?
The FDA gave mifepristone and misoprostol the green light in 2000. They were approved for use up to the 10th week of pregnancy, after which a woman would need to abort using other methods, such as vacuum aspiration.
Is there post abortion syndrome?
The average cost of an abortion medication at Planned Parenthood is $580, but it can cost more than $800.
Is it safe and effective?
The use of the abortion pill for the specified period of time is considered safe and effective by medical experts. Pregnancies are terminated in more than 95% of cases in which the pill is used, according to studies. Serious complications, such as excessive bleeding, fever, infection or allergic reaction, which require medical consultation, have also been reported.
(With AFP)