The US Court of Appeals said that mifepristone should remain available for the time being. (Representative)
Washington:
The US Justice Department said Thursday it would go to the Supreme Court to appeal restrictions imposed on a widely used abortion pill in the latest round of an intense fight over reproductive rights.
The move by President Joe Biden’s administration came just hours after an appeals court blocked moves to ban mifepristone, but limited access to the drug used for more than half of abortions in the United States.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland said, “We will seek emergency relief from the Supreme Court to protect Americans’ access to safe and effective fertility care.”
Speaking to reporters during Joe Biden’s visit to Dublin, Ireland, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said “We believe the law is on our side, and we will win.”
Late Wednesday, the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals said mifepristone should remain available now, but limited access to the first seven weeks of pregnancy, down from 10.
The appeals court also said an in-person visit would be necessary to receive the pill — a requirement raised in recent years — and blocked the drug from being sent by mail.
The 2-1 decision by the conservative-majority federal appeals court in New Orleans, Louisiana, came after a US District Court judge in Texas overturned a two-decade-old Food and Drug Administration approval of the drug last Friday.
The appeals court’s decision was condemned by Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, the Center for Reproductive Rights, and other groups seeking to maintain access to abortion.
“We are angry that another court would choose to jeopardize the health and future of millions of people who rely on mifepristone for abortion care,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, president of Planned Parenthood.
“Unless the Supreme Court intervenes, this decision will prevent many people from accessing abortion care and force them to remain pregnant against their will,” said Jennifer Delvain, director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project.
‘win’
Anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony described the latest ruling by two judges appointed by former Republican President Donald Trump as a “victory.”
“The court recognized that the abortion pill is dangerous and struck down Biden’s reckless mail-order abortion plan,” said Susan B. Anthony state policy director Katie Daniels. “We are waiting for the Supreme Court to hear the matter.”
The latest standoff over women’s reproductive freedom in the US comes nearly a year after the conservative-dominated Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that established the constitutional right to abortion for half a century.
Mifepristone is one component of a two-drug regimen that may be used during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy in the United States.
It has a long safety record, and the FDA estimates that 5.6 million Americans have used it to terminate pregnancies since it was approved.
Last week Judge Matthew Kaczmarik, also a Trump appointee, ruled to impose a nationwide ban on mifepristone in response to a lawsuit from a coalition of anti-abortion groups.
The judge adopted language used by abortion opponents in his decision, referring to abortion providers as “abortioners” and saying that the drug was used to “kill the unborn human being”.
Mr Kaksmarik said the two-drug regimen including mifepristone had resulted in “thousands of adverse events suffered by women and girls”, including acute bleeding and psychological trauma.
But the FDA, researchers and the drug maker say decades of experience have proven the drug to be safe and effective when used as indicated.
Shortly after the initial Texas decision, a Washington state judge ruled in a separate case that access to mifepristone should be protected.
Polls repeatedly show that a clear majority of Americans support continued access to safe abortion, even as conservative groups push to limit access to the procedure — or ban it outright.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)