Dispute over abortion pill in US: Supreme Court upholds access

In the bitter dispute over abortion rights in the United States, the country’s Supreme Court has provisionally granted access to a drug for abortion. In its judgment of Friday evening (local time), the Supreme Court rejected restrictions on access to the abortion pill mifepristone as long as the legal battle continues. The decision is especially surprising given the right-wing majority on the Supreme Court and a victory for the administration of Democratic US President Joe Biden. However, the last word in the case has not yet been spoken as the legal battle continues.

The decision is the first major Supreme Court ruling on abortion since the court overturned nearly 50 years of abortion rights in the United States nearly a year ago. This decision was considered a political earthquake. In the United States, abortion rights have been the subject of heated debate time and time again. Opponents have tried for decades to limit access and largely ban abortion. This is also the case with the abortion pill mifepristone.

Mifepristone was approved in the US in 2000 and is often used in combination with the drug misoprostol for pregnancy termination. However, misoprostol can also be used alone. The World Health Organization recommends this only when mifepristone is not available. According to the FDA, mifepristone is a reliable drug. Since approval, more than five million pregnant women have used mifepristone in combination with misoprostol to terminate a pregnancy, according to US media. Mifepristone can be sent by post and taken home.

Mifepristone has grown in importance since state abortion laws were overturned, allowing state legislatures to legislate on whether abortion is legal. Because many conservative states have nearly banned or largely curtailed abortion. For this reason, much to the chagrin of abortion opponents, many pregnant women have been prescribed the drug via telemedicine, for example, and had it sent by mail.

Opponents of abortion have therefore filed a lawsuit in the US state of Texas against the approval of mifepristone – they want to make access to medical abortion more difficult. In particular, the religious right and large parts of the Republican Party have been trying to limit abortion rights in the US for decades. A Texas judge appointed by former Republican President Donald Trump subsequently suspended mifepristone’s approval. This decision is considered very unusual, as mifepristone has been approved and considered safe for over two decades.

The administration of US President Biden and manufacturers took action against the verdict. An appeals court then partially overturned that decision in Texas. However, it ruled that the pill should only be available and used with restrictions. The decision stipulated that mifepristone could no longer be sent by post. She also only allows the pill until the seventh week of pregnancy – previously the drug was allowed until the tenth week. The Biden administration also took action against this verdict – thus the case ended up in the Supreme Court, which has now also lifted these restrictions.

Under Trump, the Supreme Court has moved significantly to the right. There are only three female judges who are considered liberal. On the other hand, six arch-conservative judges, some of whom are deeply religious, have recently ruled repeatedly in the interest of religious prosecutors. When the court overturned abortion rights last year, protests erupted across the country. Abortions were previously allowed nationwide, at least until the fetus was viable. According to surveys, a majority of the population supports the right to abortion.

Two justices have now publicly voted against the Supreme Court decision on mifepristone: Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas. Both have historically positioned themselves as opponents of abortion. In contrast, US President Biden welcomed the court’s decision, saying, “For women across America, the stakes couldn’t be higher. I will continue to fight against politically motivated attacks on women’s health.” (sda/dpa)