(ZENIT News / Washington, 09.10.2023).- On September 1st, the government of President Joe Biden and a pharmaceutical manufacturer requested the US Supreme Court to maintain access to an abortion pill, free from restrictions.
Danco Laboratories, the distributor of mifepristone under the brand Mifeprex, formally asked the US Supreme Court to overturn a lower court’s ruling that restricted access to this abortion pill.
This request comes after a panel of three judges from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, Louisiana, limited the use of mifepristone to the first seven weeks of pregnancy, instead of the current ten, and also blocked its distribution by mail. The Department of Justice and Danco Laboratories requested the decision from the US federal appeals court.
They also requested that the abortion pill, which is used in more than half of all abortions in the United States, be prescribed by a physician.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision prohibits mailing the pill or prescribing it without a doctor’s visit. It also overturns the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) rule that allowed the use of mifepristone beyond the seventh week of pregnancy. The Fifth Circuit’s provision limited the ruling by federal judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, whose order blocked the FDA’s approval of the pill and gave the government one week to appeal.
Pro-life groups seek to ban mifepristone because, despite its long history, it is considered unsafe. Abortion advocates argue for its widespread use. This disparity highlights the rejection of a drug due to its proven risks, as well as its harm to life, versus the reasoning behind its widespread use, as if repeating a harmful act justifies it.
