A federal judge suspends the abortion pill in the United States

UPGRADE DAY

A federal judge on Friday handed another resounding victory to abortion opponents in the United States, revoking marketing authorization for an abortion pill approved for more than 20 years and used by half a million American women every year. 

President Joe Biden has said he is determined to “fight” the decision, calling it an “unprecedented attempt to deprive women of fundamental freedoms.”

Ten months after the landmark Supreme Court ruling which gave each American state the freedom to prohibit terminations of pregnancy on its soil, magistrate Matthew Kacsmaryk, known for his ultra-conservative views, handed down, from Texas, a decision supposed to apply to the whole country .

At the same time, one of his colleagues, located in the State of Washington, however judged that the marketing authorization for mifepristone (RU 486), which is used in combination with another cachet, could not be withdrawn in the 17 Democratic states that had seized it.

It will therefore quickly be up to the Supreme Court, profoundly overhauled by former Republican President Donald Trump, to clarify the situation.

Judge Kacsmaryk's decision will not apply for a week anyway, the magistrate having chosen to give the federal government time to appeal. Which should not take long.

“The Ministry of Justice is in deep disagreement” with the decision, “it will appeal (…) and will request a reprieve in the meantime”, declared the minister Merrick Garland in a statement.

In his 67-page judgment, Judge Kacsmaryk validates most of the arguments in the November complaint filed by a coalition of anti-abortion doctors and organizations against the United States Drug Administration (FDA).

Like them, he resumes studies on the risks attributed to the abortion pill, although they are considered negligible by the majority of the scientific community. He also accuses the FDA of failing to follow its procedures in order to meet a political objective.

“There is evidence that the FDA faced intense political pressure to relinquish its safety precautions in order to promote the political objective of expanding access to abortion,” he wrote in particular.

“Shameful”

“This is unprecedented and deeply damaging,” commented the powerful family planning organization Planned Parenthood, which runs many abortion clinics in the country.

“We should all be outraged that a judge could unilaterally reject medical evidence” to contradict the FDA, added its president Alexis McGill Johnson, stressing that this decision could have consequences “far beyond. beyond abortion”.

Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris also slammed “an unprecedented decision that threatens women's rights across the country” and worried about the consequences for other cancer or diabetes drugs.

Elected Democrats in Congress have focused their criticism on Judge Kacsmaryk: “an extremist judge” for their former leader in the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, a “rogue judge” for his successor Hakeem Jeffries.

Appointed by Donald Trump, Matthew Kacsmaryk was a lawyer for a Christian organization before taking office in Amarillo, Texas, where he is the only federal judge. By filing a complaint in this city, the opponents of abortion were certain that the case would come back to him.

On Friday, they did not hide their joy. The SBA Prolife America group hailed “a victory for the health and safety of women and girls.” Its director of political affairs Katie Glenn said it was “analyzing closely” the second ruling, “but we are hopeful that the dangerous disregard for women's lives displayed by the FDA for two decades will soon be corrected”.

< p>Even if the court ultimately suspended the FDA's authorization, it would probably take several months before its decision would apply. According to health law experts, the drug regulator must follow a strict procedure before withdrawing the authorization of a product.

Women and doctors could also fall back on a second pill, misoprostol, the use of which is now combined with mifepristone for greater effectiveness and less pain.

“We will not let this unfair decision prevent access to abortion pills”, which via “alternative routes” will “always arrive in your mailboxes”, has already indicated Elisa Wells, founder of the Plan C network of information on abortion pills.