In the dispute over the right to abortion in the US, opponents of abortion have won another stage. A federal judge in the state of Texas has issued an order to suspend approval of the abortion drug mifepristone. However, the decision issued on Friday (local time) should not take effect for another seven days to allow the authority responsible for drug approval to appeal against the decision, the court order said. US President Joe Biden announced that his administration would challenge the judge’s verdict. Attorney General Merrick Garland said Friday his department would appeal.
This heralds a protracted legal battle over the future of the abortion drug, which many observers believe could very likely end up in the US Supreme Court. Shortly after the decision in Texas, another federal court in Washington state on the west coast of the US issued an order that largely contradicted Texas’s. 17 Democratic-ruled states and the District of Columbia, the district in which the US capital of Washington is located, had filed a lawsuit to maintain access to the drug in their states. The Washington state judge appointed by former President Barack Obama agreed.
If the drug were to be discontinued, abortion advocates say it would have dramatic consequences for women’s health across the country. President Biden said on Friday that the Texas court decision was another unprecedented move to deprive women of their fundamental freedoms and put their health at risk.
Medical abortion is becoming increasingly important in the United States. According to an analysis by the Guttmacher Institute, which specializes in reproductive health, more than half of all abortions in the US are now medical.
Mifepristone was approved in the US in 2000 and has traditionally been used in combination with the drug misoprostol for abortion. Misoprostol can also be used alone for abortion. The World Health Organization recommends this approach in cases where mifepristone is not available. It’s unclear how many doctors would actually switch to this method, the Guttmacher Institute wrote. Doctors in the US have less experience with this, epidemiologist Heidi Moseson told Nature magazine.
The current dispute over the availability of mifepristone and the legality of abortion in general reflects the deep political division in the country. It is one of the core themes of the conflict, often referred to in the US as “culture wars”, as a clash of cultures between conservative and progressive forces. Above all, the religious right and large parts of the Republican Party have been trying for decades to limit or even abolish this right. The judge in the current case, Matthew Kacsmaryk, was appointed by ex-President Donald Trump and is considered to be strictly conservative and deeply religious. President Biden said Friday that the decision in Texas “is the next big step toward the nationwide ban on abortion that elected Republican officials have vowed to make law in America.”
In June, the Supreme Court, made up of mostly conservative judges, overturned the country’s abortion law, which had been in effect for nearly 50 years. Since then, the states can independently decide on the rules for abortion. In 13 states, abortion is now banned completely or only in a few exceptional cases. Republicans have a majority in parliament in all states. Some other states have at least limited abortion rights. Further bans and restrictions are expected. Many women planning an abortion already have to travel long distances. In states that ban abortion, the ban also extends to the use of abortion pills.
As with many social issues in the US, skin color also plays an important role in abortions. Black women are three times more likely to die in childbirth than whites, Vice President Kamala Harris said recently. The death rate for Indigenous women is twice that of whites. The issue also divides society. Regularly people throughout the country demonstrate both for and against abortion.
Regardless of the Texas judge’s ruling, several states are already in the process of banning abortion drugs at the state level. Wyoming is the first state to pass such a law since mid-March. The law could come into effect in July. A blanket ban on abortion in the state was initially blocked by a court. According to reports in the New York Times, Texas is planning a law that would not only ban abortion drugs but would also require Internet service providers to make websites of providers of such drugs inaccessible to users. (sda/dpa)
source: watson
I’m Maxine Reitz, a journalist and news writer at 24 Instant News. I specialize in health-related topics and have written hundreds of articles on the subject. My work has been featured in leading publications such as The New York Times, The Guardian, and Healthline. As an experienced professional in the industry, I have consistently demonstrated an ability to develop compelling stories that engage readers.
