- Last week, a Texan federal judge close to Donald Trump suspended the marketing authorization of mifepristone, an abortion pill widely used in the United States.
- After a request from the government, an appeal court partially limited the judge’s decision, while restricting access to this pill. The US executive therefore seized the Supreme Court.
- What should we expect from the decision of the nine judges, mostly conservatives? Will this legal battle end? What consequences for American women after these decisions? Part of the answer with Christen Bryson, lecturer in American studies at the Sorbonne Nouvelle.
In the United States, the more the days progress, the more the achievements of women are declining. Last summer, the Supreme Court downgraded the right to abortion, no longer making it a federal right and therefore leaving the states free to legislate on the issue. Nearly ten months later, the nine judges, with a conservative majority, will again have to decide on the subject, seized urgently by the American executive. In question, a series of court decisions who intend to block access to mifepristone, the main abortion pill in the country.
What to expect from the Supreme Court? Are other remedies possible? How will the States and American women react? 20 Minutes take stock of the subject with Christen Brysonlecturer in American studies at the Sorbonne Nouvelle.
What should we expect from the Supreme Court?
Launched since the cancellation of Roe v. wade, the legal battle is raging. Last Friday, Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Texas federal judge close to Donald Trumptook the decision to suspend the marketing authorization in the United States of mifepristone, which dated from the year 2000. Despite the medical consensus, he considered that this abortion pill, already used by more than five million women, posed health risks.
On Monday, the Biden administration had already seized an appeals court to block the judgment. Since then, justice has certainly made it possible to maintain the authorization of this pill, but by restoring restrictions on its use (three visits to the doctor, seven weeks of pregnancy maximum, prohibition of sending by post). The fate of mifepristone will be played out before the Supreme Court, with a conservative majority. Even if it is “extremely difficult” to anticipate the reaction of the institution, our expert engages in an analysis: “The Supreme Court could ask itself two questions. Does it want to limit the administrative power of the federal state, which is an objective pursued by the conservative legal movement? Or, does she want to further limit access to abortion? »
And to add: “The Texan file gives an opportunity to respond to these two tracks. But legal scholars say Judge Kacsmaryk’s reasoning may be too vague and could have unintended consequences. For these reasons, they believe that some conservative judges will support the government instead. Suffice to say that uncertainty reigns and that the decision of the Supreme Court will be particularly scrutinized.
Are other legal remedies to be expected?
Since the end of the constitutional protection of abortion last summer, fifteen American states have banned abortion. This week, Florida has restricted this right beyond six weeks of pregnancy. To counter anti-abortion supporters, a coalition of Democratic states went to court last February to try to save mifepristone. But, boosted by their success, the anti-abortionists will continue to appeal to the courts, according to our expert.
“The conservative legal movement will continue to pursue this path because the use of the law to revisit what it sees as moral issues has been successful. It should be remembered that the Supreme Court refused to reverse Roe v. Wade in 2020, before, two years later, reversing this fifty-year-old case law, ”she explains, recalling that these are not the only remedies brought by the anti-abortion camp. One of their fights, on the recognition of the personality of the fetuswas successful in 2022, in the state of Georgia.
What consequences for women?
The legal imbroglio of the moment sows confusion throughout the country. Especially since mifepristone is widely used, in tandem with misoprostol. According to Guttmacher Institute, in 2020, more than half of pregnancy terminations were medically terminated, 98% of which were performed with the mifepristone-misoprostol duo. Faced with the threat, some states are starting to stockpile pills. “At my request, the University of Massachusetts agreed to purchase approximately 15,000 doses of mifepristone. That’s enough to provide coverage for more than a year,” said this week. Maura Healey, Democratic Governor of Massachusetts. “It’s a mess, but we will adapt, we will find a solution,” said Tammi Kromenaker, director of a clinic in Minnesota.
“It is possible that this pill will become more difficult to obtain and that its price will increase. The impact of a ban on the use of mifepristone would be devastating, our expert predicts, especially for people who live in counties where there are no abortion service providers and who depend on the post office for access to these drugs. The upcoming legal outcome could cause shock waves with, among other things, a boom in illegal abortions. “VTIs will simply be performed in private, without medical supervision and with increased risk to women’s health and physical and mental well-being,” Florida Democrat Lindsay Cross recently predicted. A step back that was unimaginable a few years ago across the Atlantic.
