US supreme court seems skeptical of arguments against abortion drug mifepristone
www.theguardian.com
Decision in anti-abortion doctors’ favor would apply across US and would likely make the drug more difficult to acquire

Future of mifepristone at issue as rightwing groups seek to roll back measures taken by the FDA to expand drug’s availability

Abortion is back at the US supreme court, with arguments on Tuesday in the first major case on the issue since a 6-3 majority ruled in 2022 to overturn Roe v Wade and end the national right to abortion – a decision that unleashed abortion bans throughout the country as well as a political backlash that Democrats hope will serve them in the coming presidential election.

At issue in the case is the future of mifepristone, a drug typically used in US medication abortions. The rightwing groups that brought the case are seeking to roll back measures taken by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to expand the drug’s availability in recent years.

A decision in their favor would apply nationwide, including to states that protect abortion access, and would likely make the drug more difficult to acquire. The loosening of restrictions on mifepristone have helped mitigate the impact of post-Roe abortion bans; if those restrictions are reimposed, abortion rights groups anticipate it will become significantly more difficult to access abortions in the US.

“More than 60% of abortions in the US are medication abortions, so that would impact a substantial number of people, whether you live in a protective state or a restricted state,” said Nicole Huberfeld, a health law professor at Boston University’s School of Public Health.

  • Verdant Banana@lemmy.world
    07·
    1 year ago

    Biden, seeking a second term in office in the Nov. 5 U.S. election, is an outspoken advocate for abortion rights. He and his fellow Democrats have sought to make abortion rights a central theme against Republicans ahead of the election.

    what is really worrying is if Biden or Trump wins what will the US people lose the right to next? whatever it is we are sure the democrats are going to use it to raise funds and as a carrot for Americans still on the treadmill

    • Omega@lemmy.world
      5·
      1 year ago

      If you want to secure rights, you need a big enough liberal majority to override conservative Democrats. It’s that simple. It’s not the Democrats taking your rights. Vote blue otherwise you’re just helping to take away rights.

      • wjrii@lemmy.world
        1·
        1 year ago

        Agreed. America has a broad rural-inflected conservative streak. That will take time to erode. In the wrong set of circumstances, it could actually get worse, though, including apathy that lets Trump win. The US also has certain practical limitations that give rural conservatives more powerful than they’d have in a place like, say, France, where the center polis can dominate the provinces.

        Even with that, people still need to know there is no path to political power that embraces Christian Nationalism and/or unvarnished 1930s authoritarianism, and I don’t believe our system is so broken that we can’t do that at the ballot box. Pulling the Overton Window to the left takes time, and pretending that there are not serious, systemic differences of political thought in mainstream America is, let’s say, counterproductive.