Conservatives call for an end to medical abortions
Igor Slabykh recently wrote about a high-profile court case related to abortion, which in its consequences could be even more serious than the abolition of the constitutional right to abortion by the Supreme Court in the summer of 2022. Conservatives are calling for the approval of mifepristone to be revoked for medical abortion. Why is it important?
1. Because about 53% of all abortions in the United States (and 64% of early abortions before 10 weeks of pregnancy) are performed medically and without surgery. In some states, such as Colorado, Iowa, Maine, Nebraska, Vermont, their share exceeds 70% (in Wyoming this is generally the only possibility;
2. About 40% of clinics providing abortions also do it exclusively with medication, including 80 telemedicine centers, the work of which has been simplified due to Covid. Medication abortion is much easier, cheaper and more convenient; since 2000, 5,6 million women in the United States have used mifepristone and misoprostol.
3. Even if the court sides with the conservatives, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may challenge the decision or refuse to implement it. And even if the marketing authorization for mifepristone is revoked, another drug, misoprostol, remains.
P.S. 19 conservative states have already limited the use of telemedicine, requiring patients to receive abortion drugs only in person (knowing that there are no longer clinics in their states). In response, the FDA allowed pharmacy chains to sell and mail mifepristone, insisting that states could not restrict sales of federally approved drugs. And the attorneys general of 20 Republican states sent letters to large pharmacy chains CVS and Walgreens, threatening them with prosecution for selling abortion drugs.
Author: Yan Veselov
