Could the abortion pill be banned nationwide? A conservative judge is due to rule soon on the authorization granted more than 20 years ago to this product by the drug regulator.
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With the approach of its decision, expected from February 24, concern is rising in the ranks of defenders of the right to abortion.
“A simple federal judge from Texas (…) could issue a national ban on the abortion pill, the effects would obviously be devastating”, commented Jenny Ma, lawyer at the Center for reproductive rights.
Concretely, opponents of abortion filed a complaint in November against the American Medicines Agency (FDA) accusing it of having authorized in 2000 mifepristone (or RU 486), one of the two pills used in medical terminations of pregnancy .
“The FDA betrayed women and girls when it chose politics over science and approved the use of a chemical for abortion in the United States,” write the plaintiffs represented by the Christian organization Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).
Accusing the FDA of having “exceeded its prerogatives”, they ask the federal justice to immediately suspend this authorization for the whole of the United States, pending a substantive examination of their arguments.
The appeal is causing apprehension among abortion rights advocates because it was filed in Amarillo, Texas, where the only federal judge, Matthew Kacsmaryk, appointed by former Republican President Donald Trump, is known for his positions. ultra-conservative.
His decision could have enormous consequences, since 54% of abortions performed in the United States today are medical.
Since the Supreme Court of the United States blasted the right to abortion in June, fifteen states have banned abortions on their soil and abortion pills are illegal there.
But pregnant women in those states can still travel to neighboring states to get the pills, a simpler procedure than surgery.
“Issuing a national injunction could cause significant harm, depriving patients of a safe and effective drug that has been on the market for more than 20 years,” the Ministry of Health warned in arguments sent to the judge .
His decision, whatever it is, may be subject to an appeal which will be examined by the Federal Court of Appeals of New Orleans, also known for its conservatism.
The case could therefore again end up before the Supreme Court of the United States which, since its reshuffle by Donald Trump, has six out of nine conservative magistrates.