US supreme court protects access to abortion pill

Nepal Views

Kathmandu: The Supreme Court of United States protected on Friday access to a widely used abortion pill by freezing lower-court rulings that placed restrictions on its usage as appeals play out.

The Supreme Court handed a win to the defenders of the medication abortion drug mifepristone. The court also rejected the restrictions on the drug implemented by a lower court.

The latest move by the supreme court has caused the drug to remain in place as per the regulation and approval of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), ensuring the access to medication abortion in the states where it is legal.

There is much still to play out in the litigation and Friday’s Supreme Court order is unlikely to be the justices’ final word on the FDA’s approach to regulating the drug. The case now travels back to the Fifth Circuit federal appeals court.

Mifepristone is part of a two-drug regimen that now accounts for more than half of abortions in the country. It has been used by more than five million women in the US to end their pregnancies.

It was first approved by FDA more than 20 years ago after four years of review.

The FDA also placed mifepristone in a category of 60 drugs that are regulated under a system of extra restrictions and regular evaluations.

Mainstream medical organisations, including the American College of Obstetrics and Gynaecologists and the World Health Organization, have said the abortion pill is safe and effective.

But earlier this month, Texas court judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ruled to suspend the FDA approval of mifepristone, saying the agency had violated federal rules that allowed for the accelerated approval of some drugs, and had erred in its scientific assessment of the drug.

Judge Kacsmaryk’s preliminary decision came after a group of anti-abortion health professionals launched a case challenging the safety of mifepristone.