I’ve had Tuesday, March 26 marked on my calendar. SCOTUS will be hearing oral arguments in the so called “abortion pill case.” Mifepristone has long been used in this country. It’s proven safe and effective, and is used for purposes other than abortion. Cushing Syndrome for example, and in treatment for fibroids and endometriosis. It’s even sometimes used to treat depression! But it’s mostly known as a key means of women obtaining a medical abortion. It’s been widely and safely used for decades for that purpose. In fact it’s safer than Viagra! Given the safety and effectiveness of the drug and the issue of access to in-person medical care for so many women the FDA approved doctors prescribing Mifepristone via tele-medicine and women receiving their prescriptions by mail.
As you might expect anti-abortion zealots have long freaked out about women being able to obtain safe, legal abortions and for damned sure not having to jump through flaming hoops and crawl through pits of angry, poisonous snakes to obtain the abortion pill. So they went judge shopping and found a willing asshat in a one judge federal courthouse in Texas to issue a nationwide injunction against the use of Mifepristone. Judge Kacsmaryk’s ruling was full of errors and had more holes than swiss cheese. For example it cited two studies which had since been retracted by the author for being flawed. It cited a “study” made up of accounts lifted from an anti-abortion website that had no basis in science. It even cited “Doctor” who turned out NOT to be an M.D but who’s background was in theology. You can guess what kind.
The almost as crazy ass conservative 4th Circuit did strike down part of the District Court ruling but not all. SCOTUS, which is where this was all designed to go at least stayed the injunction pending their hearing of the case. Well, it’s now showtime so to speak. I have no doubt that Alito and Thomas made up their minds long ago to uphold the nationwide ban on the drug. The best we can hope for is a 7-2 ruling striking it down. Given what happened with Dobbs I’m thinking it might be a tossup.
Remember, there are six Justices who are anti-abortion on the Court. Upholding the lower court’s ruling would cripple abortion access on a wide scale and not just in red states. As USA Today reports even if a woman could still obtain a tele-medicine prescription there’d be problems:
Instead, patients would be required to pick up their prescriptions in person at a hospital, clinic or medical office, which Kaye said could add additional burdens including paying for transportation, making childcare arrangements, taking time off of work or escaping the surveillance of an abusive partner.
“For some patients, particularly low-income patients, people of color, folks living in rural areas and women with abusive partners, losing a telehealth option for mifepristone means losing access altogether,” she said.
There’s also the matter of women who are in the military who in many cases would lose access to medical abortion. And given the complications as I said even in blue states pharmacies might have to stop offering it.
What might save the day? Well, as the linked article points out when you dive into the details the basis for the initial and appellate rulings might have been stamping out abortion access, but it was couched LEGALLY in the issue of the FDA approval process. You know, actual science based stuff which conservatives, especially the religious nuts among them hate with a white hot passion. Still, if SCOTUS gives in to the anti-abortion fervor they could destroy the FDA’s ability to approve and regulate all medications. For example:
Dr. Gwen Nichols, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society chief medical officer, told USA TODAY if restrictions on mifepristone were reinstated, it would “undermine the authority of the FDA” and allow people without expertise in science or medicine to question the administration based on personal beliefs. Nichols said she’s concerned the Supreme Court ruling could similarly threaten cancer drug treatments that lack alternatives, which could lead to patient deaths.
Nichols went on to say manufacturers might be hesitant to engage in clinical trials of new drugs following approvals. It’s a time consuming and expensive process and if some goober with a bible can come in and replace scientific evidence with “Jeebus told me” why bother? Seriously though she says we are talking literally life and death matters. Upending the authority of the FDA would have worldwide implications in fact. According to Dr. Amanda Banks of Banks Advisory:
Banks said the case has already created confusion among pharmaceutical companies, investors and scientists and further confusion caused by the high court’s ruling could upend the drug approval process.
“It could put innovation for new drugs and therapies for much, much needed, badly needed therapies for patients, not just in the United States but globally at fundamental risk,” she said.
So pay attention to what happens at SCOTUS tomorrow. And contact your elected representatives to speak out and make sure SCOTUS knows we the people are watching and understand the stakes. Yes, this is about abortion first but the hard truth is that it’s about even more.
RW’ers will go after Opil, the first over-the-counter pill. GUARANTEED. They’ll pull some anti-FDA argument out of their a**. Contraception is next. You’ve been warned.
Women with an ounce of sense who also do not wish to a child right now…or ever…had better take steps to remove themselves from the fallout of 6 idiots deciding they have the right to make those decisions for them. I advise a very, very, long-term IUD or tubal ligation which BTW can be reversed nowadays should a woman change her mind.
The 6 idiots on the s.c. will make a decision they are ill-equipped to make which will allow even stupider people to make even worse decisions-think making things like the Pill an illegal drug on the level of meth, heroin, etc.
These fools need to be removed immediately and any way should be considered acceptable given the amount of destruction they pose to women, the country, and the planet.