Two conflicting court decisions in two different US states have sown confusion over a drug intended to terminate a pregnancy.
This first legal imbroglio since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v.
Wade, who had ended abortion rights, was sparked by two separate cases involving mifepristone, a drug used in more than half of abortions in the United States.
In Texas, Donald Trump-appointed District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ordered the
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
, the federal agency responsible for approving drugs, to suspend the authorization of mifepristone for the duration of a lawsuit challenging its safety, brought by anti-abortion group
Alliance Defending Freedom
.
Almost simultaneously, in Washington state, Obama administration-appointed Judge Thomas Rice partially granted the request of 17 Democratic-ruled states to keep the drug on sale.
Growing differences
From a strictly legal point of view, the two cases concern only the way the FDA regulates mifepristone, and do not directly concern the question of the right to abortion.
But both cases are directly linked to the new legal and political environment created by the overturning of Roe v.
Wade by the Supreme Court, which leaves the States of the Union the right to legislate as they see fit on this question.
The differences between Democratic-run states and Republican-run states are deepening on many issues, from gun licensing to the environment.
The question of abortion is one of the thorniest.
Read alsoAbortion in the United States: “The battle will now be fought state by state”
The decision rendered in Texas by Judge Kacsmaryk mentions that embryos could have individual rights.
If his decision is upheld, it could set a precedent, and other courts could take it into account in their decisions.
The Department of Justice and a manufacturer of mifepristone have both appealed.
Attorney General Merrick Garland also asked that the decision be stayed while the case proceeds.
The 5th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals, based in Louisiana but covering Texas, is considered one of the most conservative in the country.
But it is uncertain whether she will let Judge Kacmsaryk's decision go into effect.
Washington state, where the Democratic states' lawsuit was filed, falls under the 9th Circuit, a liberal appeals court.
The legal battle triggered by these two contradictory decisions has only just begun, and it seems inevitable that the question of abortion will again be brought before the Supreme Court, responsible for deciding the contradictory decisions.