Deadline at midnight: the Supreme Court in the USA will rule on the accessibility of the abortion pill - Walla! News

On video: Demonstrations by abortion supporters across the US (Photo: Reuters)

The United States Supreme Court is expected to rule today (Friday) on whether the abortion pill mifepristone (mifepristone) will continue to be available and accessible - while considering a request by Democratic President Joe Biden's administration to protect the drug against an attempt to undermine its regulatory approval by groups that oppose abortion.

This is the most significant decision on the issue of abortions, since the conservative Supreme Court overturned the paragraph from the 1970s, which granted the constitutional right to a safe abortion to all women in the country.

The court is facing a deadline it has set for itself - to rule on the issue by midnight, EST (7 a.m. on Saturday, Israel time), before restrictions on access to the pill, ordered by conservative Texas District Court Judge Matthew Kesmerik on April 7, go into effect.

Kesmerik handed down a sweeping ruling that embraces abortion opponents' arguments that the pill is unsafe — and halted the FDA's 23-year-old approval.

The ruling also ordered the FDA to reverse decisions it had made in recent years aimed at making access to the pill easier.

The nine justices on the high court — six conservatives and three liberals — are now considering emergency requests by the U.S. Justice Department and pill maker Danco Levatoris to block the preliminary injunction issued by Kesmerick — which is expected to broadly limit access to mifepristone while the high court considers the issue.

The Supreme Court is supposed to reach a ruling before the deadline it set for itself, in which it accepts the requests of the government and the manufacturer of the drug not to harm its accessibility or to reject them.

Another option is to freeze the legal process again.

The judges can also choose to do nothing - which will lead to the restrictions on the pill taking effect.

Pro-abortion demonstrations in the United States (Photo: Reuters)

The American government is trying to protect mifepristone in light of the increasing bans on abortion in the various countries, following last summer's conservative Supreme Court overturning the historic ruling "Roe v. Wade" from 1973 - and the cancellation of constitutional access to safe abortion throughout the country.

Moreover, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. agency that certifies the safety of food and drug products and medical devices, approved the use of the mifepristone pill in 2000. If the Supreme Court accepts Kesmerick's ruling in the Texas court, it could undermine the agency's regulatory authority over The other medicines, including

According to American legal experts, the decision of Judge Kesmerik in Texas was the first time that a court in the United States ordered the cancellation of approval of a drug despite the opposition of the FDA.

They say it could pave the way for similar measures against other drugs, such as vaccines, the morning-after pill and other controversial drugs.

It could also undermine drug companies' confidence in the FDA and influence decisions about drug development and marketing.

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The US government is trying to protect Mifepristone (Photo: ShutterStock)

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals refused on April 12 to halt the restrictions on the pill ordered by Kesmerik in Texas.

However, he did freeze the part of Kesmerik's ruling that ordered the suspension of the FDA's approval of the pill - which would have led to its complete removal from the shelves.

If they go into effect, the restrictions will undo a series of reliefs established in 2016 and 2021 to help those who need the pill.

The reliefs include permission to use the pill up to the tenth week of pregnancy instead of up to the seventh;

the reduction of the required dose;

reducing the required visits to a doctor from three to one;

permission to send the pill by mail;

and canceling the requirement that the customer come in person to pick up the pill.

In that case, it would also be necessary to change the current instructions for use of the drug, a process that the Ministry of Justice and Danko have previously warned could take months, and seriously disrupt access to the pill.

The abortion pill treatment involves two steps: mifepristone to kill the fetus, and then misoprostol to accelerate contractions to expel it.

Today, this combination is used in more than half of the abortions in the United States.

More than five million women have used the pill to end their pregnancy, and dozens of other countries around the world have approved its use.

Demonstrator in favor of abortions (Photo: ShutterStock)

The restrictions will also prohibit the use of the generic drug produced by GenBioPro, which is responsible for 66% of the use of abortion pills in the United States.

The company filed a lawsuit on Wednesday seeking to ensure that it can continue to sell its pill amid the legal challenges.

In November, anti-abortion groups in the United States sued the FDA, alleging that the agency used an illegal process to approve mifepristone.

They filed suit in November in Amarillo, Texas, where U.S. District Court Judge Kasmarick — appointed by former President Donald Trump and known for his opposition to abortion — was in charge of the case.

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