Ruling Could Cut Off 40 Million Women’s Abortion Access, NARAL Study Says

By FYH News Team

Published on February 10, 2023

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Top Line

A ruling in a court case trying to ban abortion pills could have a dramatic effect in curbing abortion access nationwide—even after the Supreme Court already overturned Roe v. Wade—as new data from pro-abortion rights group NARAL suggests an additional 40 million women will lose abortion access if a conservative judge decides to block the drug from being sold.

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important facts

Anti-abortion advocates have sued the Food and Drug Administration in an effort to revoke its approval of mifepristone, an abortion drug that ends pregnancy, and hastened to block access to the drug, at least temporarily. can come sooner than month.

If US District Judge Matthew Kaczmarik—a Trump appointee who has been sympathetic to conservatives in the past—rules against the FDA and blocks the pills, it would mean that mifepristone could no longer be sold or prescribed nationwide. cannot be performed, including in states where abortion is legal.

Using US Census data, NARAL found that the number of women who do not have access to abortion would increase from 24.5 million to 64.5 million—a 163% increase—if the pills are blocked in court.

That number doesn’t include those who may become pregnant but don’t identify as women, notes Narrell, which means the real number of people without abortion access will be even higher.

Medication abortion is the most popular abortion method in the US, accounting for 53% of all abortions performed in 2020, and may be the main route for many people to obtain an abortion if they do not have clinics that perform surgical abortions in their area.

It has also become a primary way for people in states where abortion is banned to obtain care, with tactics such as setting up mobile abortion clinics at state borders and mail ordering abortion pills. can also terminate the pregnancy.

amazing facts

As Politico reports, abortion rights activists have encouraged people to stockpile abortion pills ahead of the ruling, even if they aren’t pregnant. The shelf life of the tablets is two years. However, the FDA warns against doing so, believing it could put patients’ health at risk. The agency says that physicians should assess the pregnancy before prescribing the pills, to ensure that it is within the time frame where abortion pills can be used and that there are no problems such as ectopic pregnancy. Not there.

what to watch

A decision on the abortion pill case will not come until at least February 24, as Kaczmarić extended the deadline for briefings to be filed in the case on Thursday. Any injunction would potentially temporarily halt distribution of mifepristone while the litigation continues. If Kacsmaryk rules against the FDA, it is expected that the federal government will swiftly appeal the decision and try to block the judge’s order. The case will be appealed to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which is notably conservative-leaning, although some abortion rights advocates cited by Reuters said they believe the court will rule on revoking access to the FDA. Wouldn’t want to go that far for – approved drug.

what we don’t know

What would happen in terms of access to abortion if the pills were blocked? Politico reported Thursday that Biden administration officials are “privately concerned” because “they have limited options for how to respond,” and it’s unclear if the FDA’s approval is in fact the White House restoring access to mifepristone. May or may not take any steps to do so. cancelled. Progressive lawmakers and abortion rights advocates are urging the Biden administration to declare abortion a public health emergency, which could make more federal funding and assistance available to help people seek abortions and travel for the procedure. But the White House is not yet ready for this. take that step.

main background

Mifepristone is one of two drugs taken during a medical abortion, as the drug ends the pregnancy before the other drug, misoprostol, then helps to expel the tissue. (Misoprostol, also used for other medical conditions, has not come under legal scrutiny.) The FDA has approved the diet to terminate pregnancy since 2000, but abortions led by the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine Antitrust groups argued in their lawsuit that mifepristone was improperly approved by the FDA without conducting adequate studies into the drug’s safety. The plaintiffs argue that further changes to mifepristone’s approval simply removed safeguards and “failed to meet the rigorous scientific standards” that federal law surrounding drug regulation requires, and allege That the FDA had rejected previous attempts by the plaintiffs to resolve their issues with the drug. , The Biden administration has argued in court that the drug is safe and effective — as studies have repeatedly shown — and has slammed the arguments of anti-abortion rights groups as “timeless, unhelpful and without merit.” The Biden administration argued that the plaintiffs haven’t shown that legalizing abortion pills would harm them, but that blocking mifepristone would “dramatically” [harm]”Public interest” effectively withdrawing from the market a safe and effective drug that has been legitimately on the market for twenty-two years.

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