Mifepristone, a drug used to terminate pregnancy, has become a matter of contention between Democrats and Republicans in the United States.
This Monday, the US Department of Justice has appealed the decision of a Texas federal judge to prohibit the legal distribution of the substance, used in combination with misoprostol in abortions.
The conflict has also involved the US drug agency (FDA).
In his official ruling, Amarillo (Texas) court judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, appointed by Donald Trump, had accused the federal agency of ignoring potential side effects of the pill.
The FDA has noted that the drug arrives on the market almost twenty years.
The agency estimates that 3.7 million patients have resorted to mifepristone, and an estimated five deaths per million users, a rate below the death rate associated with penicillin.
The drug terminates the pregnancy while misoprostol empties the uterus.
It is also used in the treatment of spontaneous abortions and Cushing's syndrome.
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