Abortion: the prescription of an abortion pill suspended in the United States

Ten months after the Supreme Court’s decision which gave each American state the freedom to ban pregnancy terminations on its soil, the federal magistrate judge in Texas, Matthew Kacsmaryk, withdrew the marketing authorization mifepristone, an abortion pill approved for more than 20 years. This decision is supposed to apply to the whole of the United States.

Consequences “far beyond abortion”

In a press release, the President of the family planning organization Planned Parenthood was indignant: “We should all be outraged that a judge can unilaterally reject medical evidence”. Indeed, according to the arguments of the magistrate Matthew Kacsmaryk, the marketing of this abortion pill would not have respected certain procedures: “There is evidence indicating that the FDA faced intense political pressure to give up its safety precautions in order to promote the political objective of expanding access to abortion,” he wrote in his 67-page judgment. In this document, the federal judge goes further by validating certain arguments appearing in the complaint filed last November by a coalition of doctors and organizations hostile to abortion against the American Medicines Agency (FDA). Thus, it relies on studies on the risks attributed to the abortion pill, although they are considered negligible by the majority of the scientific community. As a reminder, mifepristone has been used for more than 20 years by half a million American women each year.

Joe Biden determined to “fight” this decision

If this decision is a victory for opponents of abortion and in particular the group SBA Prolife America which hailed “a victory for the health and safety of women and girls”; United States President Joe Biden called the decision an “unprecedented attempt to deprive women of fundamental freedoms”. He said he was ready to “fight” this decision. Moreover, if Justice goes in the direction of the federal judge, it will be several months before the marketing of this pill is definitively suspended. Indeed, this type of procedure is very strict. In the meantime, the federal government should appeal: “The Department of Justice is in deep disagreement” with this decision, “it will appeal (…) and will request a reprieve in the meantime”, declared Minister Merrick Garland in a statement.