Calay News
The US Supreme Court will rule on the abortion pill mifepristone, which has been at the center of a legal saga since a Texas judge withdrew its marketing authorization last April. Mifepristone is used in more than 50% of abortions in the United States and has been taken by more than five million Americans since its authorization more than 20 years ago.
Joe Biden’s administration appealed the Texas ruling, and an appeals court allowed the abortion pill to continue to be authorized but limited the access facilities granted by the FDA, restricting its use to seven weeks of pregnancy and prohibiting its mailing. The federal government then rushed to the Supreme Court, which temporarily upheld access to the abortion pill. The Supreme Court, with a 6-3 conservative majority, could decide to reinstate the restrictions put in place at the appellate level, ban them altogether, or take some other configuration.
Multilevel court rulings and temporary stays have created uncertainty and regulatory chaos, leading many to fear that these lawsuits will pave the way for courts to challenge other drugs. Since the Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that had enshrined a constitutional right to abortion for half a century, a score of states have banned or severely restricted access to abortion, although polls show that a clear majority of Americans support continued access to safe abortion.
According to studies, pregnancies are successfully terminated in more than 95% of cases where mifepristone is used, and serious complications are rare.
