The dispute concerns the drug mifepristone, which is used in more than half of the abortions in the United States. It has been approved for use by the Federal Medicines Agency FDA for 23 years. Opponents of abortion who want to revoke the approval of the abortion pill mifepristone were on April 7 won by a judge in Texas. The conservative judge Matthew Kacsmaryk believes the abortion pill should never have been approved, and wants it to become a ban on the pill throughout the United States. He claims that it has not been properly investigated by the Danish Medicines Agency (FDA) in the USA. Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk was appointed under President Donald Trump, and is known as a Christian conservative and an opponent of abortion. The United States Department of Justice appealed the decision, and an appeals court decided to uphold the approval, but with certain limitations. Since then, the case has rolled through the courts. Biden welcomes the decision On Friday, the US Supreme Court ruled on the case. The restrictions that the Court of Appeal had introduced on the abortion pill are put on hold, and mifepristone must be widely available as long as the case continues in the judicial system, the Supreme Court concluded on the night of Saturday Norwegian time. Two conservative justices, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, dissented. US President Joe Biden stated shortly after that he welcomes the court’s decision. The president said he supports the FDA’s approval of the abortion pill. The organization Planned Parenthood, praised the decision of the Supreme Court. – This is good news. Access to mifepristone should never have been at risk in the first place, the organization tweets. – Enormous consequences The Supreme Court gave itself until 6 o’clock Saturday morning Norwegian time to come up with a decision. In advance, Democrats feared that the outcome could have been different. “If the Supreme Court makes a decision that limits access to mifepristone, it will have enormous consequences for women across the country,” said Democrat Pramila Jayapal in the House of Representatives earlier Friday. The conservative majority in the Supreme Court last year overturned the Roe v. Wade ruling that had given women the right to self-determined abortion for 50 years in the United States. Used by millions Mifepristone has been repeatedly rated as safe and effective. The drug has been used by over 5 million women in the United States since it was approved. Mifepristone, also known as RU-486, was developed in the 1980s. The pill was studied in the USA four years before it was included on the FDA’s list of permitted medicines in 2020. In France, it has been in use since 1987. Mifepristone is also used in Norway, where nine out of ten abortions are carried out using drugs. The Supreme Court’s decision on Friday makes it almost certain that access to the abortion pill will continue at least until next year, as the proceedings in the appeal courts may drag on, with a possible scenario where a possible appeal may later end up in the Supreme Court.
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The US Supreme Court upholds access to abortion pills – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
