The US Supreme Court To Mediate the War on Abortion Pills

On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hold a crucial hearing in the war that conservatives have declared on the abortion pill Mifepristone.

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"The Supreme Court should keep their opinions to themselves about what women should or should not do with their bodies. Only we know what is best for our lives, families, and bodies," denounced Audrey Wrobel, a woman who used Mifepristone to end an unwanted pregnancy when she was a teenager.

The Supreme Court will hear arguments from both sides about the Mifepristone pill, authorized for use in the United States since 2020, but whose access the anti-abortion medical association Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine wants to restrict.

The conflict refers to changes implemented in 2016 by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which eased regulations for obtaining Mifepristone, allowing it to be prescribed remotely and sent by mail, in addition to being dispensed in pharmacies.

Nevertheless, a court of appeals sided with the anti-abortion organization, and now the battle over Mifepriston has reached the Supreme Court.

"Reducing and restricting access to Mifepristone endangers the reproductive healthcare of patients," explained Jen Castle, director of Abortion Care and Access at Planned Parenthood.

This organization providing reproductive health services recalled that the Mifepristone pill is used in nearly half of the abortions performed in the United States.

"The pill offers privacy and autonomy in a very personal experience... People deserve to choose the abortion method that best suits their circumstances, without shame or judgment," she added.

Only Route to Abortion in Some States

Access to mifepristone has also become essential for some women who cannot abort in the places where they live given that the Supreme Court overturned the 'Roe v. Wade' decision, which had protected abortion federally since 1973.

With the end of that judicial precedent in June 2022, twenty states began passing laws that either ban or severely restrict abortion, causing chaos and saturation in centers where the service is offered.

This situation personally affected Wrobel. When she needed an abortion, she could not get an appointment until two weeks later, and the nearest clinic was almost an hour and a half away. Faced with this situation, the abortion pill mifepristone became her only solution.

Her case is not unique. The use of pills has increased significantly in recent months and was used in 63 percent of abortions in 2023 in the U.S., according to a study published by the Guttmacher Institute. This figure was 17 percent in 2008.

Key Issue in the White House Contest

The Supreme Court is expected to make a decision in June, a month when the campaign for the presidential elections will be in full swing. Once again, women's right to abortion remains one of the main points of friction between Democrats and Republicans.

Donald Trump has boasted of the role he played in ending federal abortion protections, as he appointed three Supreme judges who were responsible for the end of 'Roe v. Wade' decision. The Republican candidate has also proposed banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

On the other hand, President Joe Biden has made it clear that he will use abortion to mobilize independent voters who frown upon U.S. government or Supreme Court interference in women's decisions about their own bodies.