The abortion pill, whose license was suspended last week, is still temporarily authorized in the United States but under stricter conditions than before, according to an appeals court ruling on Wednesday night.
A three-judge panel based in New Orleans decided in a two-to-one vote to maintain the license for mifepristone (RU 486), with limits.
sequel after announcement
To get there, it will now take three doctor visits during the prescription period, which will be restricted to the first seven weeks of pregnancy, compared to ten weeks earlier.
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This pill was authorized by the US Drug Administration (FDA) more than twenty years ago. Together with misoprostol, it now accounts for 53% of abortions in the United States.
But last week, Judge Matthew Kacsmarek, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, withdrew its marketing license. He had provided for a one-week delay before applying his decision, in order to give the federal government time to appeal.
Judge Kasmarek’s ruling block
Anticipating his decision, a coalition of democracies took another court at the end of February in an effort to preserve the grain.
sequel after announcement
Less than an hour after Judge Kacsmarek’s decision, one of his colleagues, Judge Thomas Rice, an Obama appointee and sitting in Washington state, estimated that Mifepristone was “Safe and effective” The Food and Drug Administration was blocked from withdrawing its approval in 17 states on the original appeal.
Why the future of the abortion pill is under threat in the United States
At the same time, the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden asked the New Orleans Court of Appeals to intervene to block the ruling. “extraordinary and unprecedented” Judge Kasmarek, “awaiting the substantive examination” Folder.
Comment “Over the line”
In its appeal, the government noted that more than 5 million women have used mifepristone, along with another pill, since it was authorized by the Food and Drug Administration in 2000. When taken properly, serious side effects are extremely rare, he said.
Joe Biden also ruled on Tuesday to suspend authorization of the abortion pill “line crossed”.
sequel after announcement
In Florida, the southernmost resort of last resort, the fight for abortion looks tough
Donald Trump appointed the two New Orleans appeals court judges who voted in favor of the increased restrictions, Kurt Engelhardt and Andrew Oldham, while former President George W. Bush appointed the judge who voted against, Katharina Haynes.
The shift comes nearly a year after the conservative-dominated Supreme Court struck down constitutional abortion protections, leaving individual states free to legislate.
Since then, about fifteen of them have banned abortions on their lands.
