After the decision of a Texan judge to cancel the authorization of the placing on the market of an abortion pill, the Department of Justice is appealing this decision in order to guarantee access to it.
It didn’t take long. After the decision of Judge Matthew Kacsmaryklate Friday night, from suspend the marketing authorization for mifepristone (RU 486) across the United States, the Department of Justice appealed, as early as Monday, April 10, in a court in New Orleans. He once again signals his desire to fight step by step with the anti-abortion camp, analyzes our correspondent in Washington, Guillaume Naudin.
A side that knew what they were doing when they went to this particular Texas federal judge. Not only has he been openly against voluntary termination of pregnancy for a long time, but the appeals circuit that will examine his decision is also dominated by ultra-conservatives.
The decision must be blocked pending the substantive examination »
” The extraordinary and unprecedented stoppage of a federal court located in Texas must ” be blocked pending substantive review of the file, writes the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden in its appeal. The United States Drug Administration (FDA) estimated in 2000 that mifepristone (RU 486) was “ safe and effective to terminate a pregnancy and authorized its marketing, recalls the government. Since then, more than 5 million American women have used it and, when taken as directed, “ serious side effects are extremely rare “, he pleads again. The court of first instance decided to deprive the patients of this based on its own erroneous risk assessment “, he writes.
Beyond that, by questioning the legitimacy of the FDA to authorize drugs, this decision risks opening up the possibility of challenging other drugs. In an open letter, representatives of major laboratories such as Pfizer or Novartis protest against the fact that ignoring ” decades of scientific evidence and case law », « an unscientific federal judge has fundamentally undermined the authority granted by Congress to the US Drug Administration (FDA) »
What the institution headed by Merrick Garland is asking for is a suspension of the execution of the judgment while it examines the appeal and the outright cancellation of this decision before Thursday noon. Failing this, the Ministry of Justice will seize the Supreme Court. The high court should take action anyway.
Indeed, another federal judge, in the State of Washington, anticipating this decision, seized by local officials, prohibited the FDA from withdrawing its approval in the 17 States at the origin of the appeal. The two judgments are therefore perfectly contradictory and the Supreme Court will almost automatically be called upon to decide. It, too, is dominated by ultra-conservatives opposed to abortion who already abolished this right at the federal level less than a year ago.
(And with AFP)
Several Democratic states stockpile abortion pills
Several US Democratic states, including California, announced on Monday that they are stockpiling abortion pills. Without waiting for the outcome of the US government’s appeal, California Governor Gavin Newsom explained that his state was stockpiling two million pills of misoprostol, the other pill used for medical abortions. . ” We will not give in to extremists trying to ban these essential abortion services “, he hammered in a statement, explaining that his state had already received 250,000 of these pills, which can be used alone as an alternative to mifepristone. “ Medical abortion remains legal in California “, he insisted.
Massachusetts also announced on Monday that it has purchased more than 15,000 mifepristone pills, equivalent to one year’s supply usually used by that state. It will also release a million dollars to allow health professionals to stock up on this pill, before justice decides definitively on its future. “ We’re not going to let an extremist Texas judge roll back this proven drug and restrict access to care in our state. “, explained to the press the democratic governor Maura Healey.
Last week, Washington State announced the purchase of 30,000 mifepristone pills, or three years of supply, to prepare for any eventuality.
(With AFP)