A looming court case could threaten access to a drug commonly used in a medication abortion.
When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer, it was clear that the war over American abortion access was far from finished. And it was clear that one of the next major battles in that war was going to be over abortion pills. |
For many women around the country, abortion pills are easier to obtain than a so-called surgical abortion — the kind that is typically performed in a clinic. (Many of those clinics have, of course, closed over the past eight months.) |
A ruling expected any day now from a federal judge in Texas could change that landscape not just for women in states where abortion is banned but for women in every state in the country. Dana M. Johnson, a sexual- and reproductive-health researcher, notes in a guest essay for Times Opinion that a ruling from Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk could revoke the nearly quarter-century-old F.D.A. approval of mifepristone — one of the two drugs typically used in a medication abortion in the United States. |
If that were to happen and mifepristone were to become inaccessible nationwide, abortion providers and women seeking abortions around the country would need to pivot strategies. Again. |
But as Johnson writes in her guest essay, "such a decision would not be the end of abortion access in America nor the end of access to safe medication abortion. That's because there's another drug that is a safe and effective abortion care option, and Americans may soon need to rely on it more than ever." |
Johnson notes that the other abortion pill — misoprostol — can be taken on its own to induce an abortion. It's been used widely around the world in that manner and is considered safe and effective. Johnson argues, "It is critical that everyone who cares about American abortion access learns about misoprostol and its uses to prepare for what may soon be to come." |
It's possible that such a ruling from Judge Kacsmaryk could eventually make its way to the Supreme Court. So to build on Johnson's plea, I would say to reproductive rights supporters: Be ready to keep pivoting. Again and again. |
What Our Readers Are Saying |
As someone who is old enough to have been around both before Roe and after, I know one thing. There always were and there always will be abortions. Legal when available, illegal when not. It infuriates the anti-choice crowd beyond reason, but the fact remains: When a woman needs an abortion, she will find a way to get one. — AM, New York Judges should not be making medical decisions. Nor should they be deciding public policy. Yet the right-wing judges in America have discovered that by interpreting the law and Constitution in very narrow and restrictive ways, they can essentially dictate policy in all sorts of areas where their law degrees and their experience provide absolutely no expertise or understanding. This, needless to say, is a very bad way to run a country. — 617to416, Ontario I was the generation who marched, who raised money, supported campaigns, etc., to elect those who supported women and pushed the rights of women. It looks like I will have to fight this battle again. Where is the outrage from young women? If they do not stand up now, what right will they lose next? The right to birth control pills? The extreme right wants to take us back to the '50s. We cannot let them. — B Wills, Arizona |
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