(Washington) A coalition of anti-abortion doctors on Tuesday asked the United States Supreme Court to restrict access to an abortion pill widely used in the country, on the eve of a long-awaited decision by the temple of American law on this subject.
The United States Medicines Agency (the FDA) and the pharmaceutical company Danco, which manufactures mifepristone, have “brazenly flouted the law and the regulations in force […] and have continually put politics ahead of women’s health”, denounced these associations of gynecologists and pediatricians campaigning against abortion in a text filed with the high court.
A real legal battle has begun since a federal judge in Texas, seized by anti-abortion activists, withdrew the marketing authorization for mifepristone, given by the FDA, on April 7. Despite the scientific consensus, he felt that it posed risks to women’s health.
An appeals court, seized by the federal government, then allowed the abortion pill to remain authorized, but by limiting the access facilities granted by the FDA over the years.
His judgment thus amounted in particular to prohibiting the sending of mifepristone by post and to returning to a use limited to seven weeks of pregnancy, instead of ten.
The federal government then urgently appealed to the Supreme Court, which temporarily maintained access to the abortion pill on Friday, suspending the decision of the appeals court in order to have more time to examine the case.
The suspension lasts until Wednesday just before midnight, the Supreme Court said.
“Without a suspensive decision, mifepristone will cause even more physical complications, emotional trauma and even death in women,” the doctors argued.
“It will also harm plaintiffs by forcing them to perform a la carte abortions that violate their conscience,” they added, asking the court to leave the appeals court’s decision in place.
In combination with another drug, mifepristone is used for more than half of abortions in the United States. More than five million Americans have already taken it since it was approved by the FDA more than 20 years ago.
In some fifteen American states that have recently banned abortion, the abortion pill is no longer officially available, even if roundabout routes have been developed. The impact of restrictions or a ban on this pill would therefore primarily concern states where abortion remains legal – for many Democrats.