Almost two weeks ago, a federal judge in the state of Texas revoked the FDA’s approval for mifepristone, which had been granted in 2000. A federal appeals court in the state of Louisiana overturned this decision, but at the same time tightened the conditions under which the pill can be prescribed. It would only have been possible to use it up to the seventh and no longer up to the tenth week of pregnancy, and mifepristone would no longer have been able to be sent by post.
The US government went to the Supreme Court to challenge these rulings and continue to allow free access to mifepristone. Mifepristone, known in Germany under the trade name Mifegyne, is used in more than every second abortion in the USA.
On the Supreme Court, the conservative camp has a clear majority of six of the nine judges after several replacements during the tenure of ex-President Donald Trump. Proponents of the right to abortion had therefore looked at the decision of the court with concern.
The verdict of the arch-conservative federal judge from Texas had plunged the USA into a new legal battle over abortion rights – ten months after the Supreme Court had caused a political earthquake by repealing the nationwide basic right to abortion. Last June, constitutional judges overturned a landmark 1973 ruling legalizing abortion across the country.
As a result, numerous states restricted access to abortions or banned abortions. But that’s not enough for opponents of abortion. They want to ensure that the abortion pill mifepristone is taken off the market nationwide – including in those states where abortions are still legal.
