US Supreme Court inclined to allow access to abortion medicine

2024-03-26 20:14:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The United States Supreme Court seemed inclined on Tuesday to preserve access to drugs that have been used in nearly two-thirds of abortions over the past year. This is the first abortion-related court case since conservative justices ruled two years ago to overturn Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed abortion rights nationally.

After nearly 90 minutes of arguments, there appeared to be consensus that abortion opponents who have filed a lawsuit challenging the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approval of the drug mifepristone do not have the legal standing to challenge the measure.

Such a Supreme Court ruling would uphold rules that allow patients to get the drug through the mail, without having to visit a doctor in person, and get the abortion drug within the first 10 weeks. of pregnancy.

Elizabeth Prelogar, the chief legal representative of President Biden's administration at the Supreme Court, said the court should make clear that the doctors and anti-abortion organizations that filed the lawsuit challenging the FDA's easing of the drug mifepristone have no legal basis for such actions.

Even three of the majority justices who supported the overturning of Roe v. Wade questioned the legal grounds of the lawyer who represented opponents of abortion rights with skepticism. Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh have been appointed to the Supreme Court by former President Donald Trump.

Abortion opponents are asking the Supreme Court to overturn a ruling by a conservative appeals judge that would have limited access to the drug mifepristone, one of two drugs used for abortions.

The Supreme Court's return to the abortion issue is taking place against a political and regulatory backdrop that was shaped by the 2022 abortion ruling that prompted many Republican-led states to enact bans, or tighter restrictions, on abortion. .

Mifepristone is one of two drugs, along with misoprostol, that are used for medical abortion. Over the years, the number of women who have chosen this method of abortion has increased. Over 6 million women have used the drug mifepristone since 2000./ VOA