Another resounding victory for abortion opponents in the United States. A federal judge withdrew Friday, April 7, the marketing authorization of an abortion pill approved for more than 20 years and used each year by half a million American women.

President Joe Biden said he was determined to "fight" the decision, calling it an "unprecedented attempt to deprive women of fundamental freedoms."

Ten months after the landmark Supreme Court ruling that gave each U.S. state the freedom to ban abortions on its soil, Justice Matthew Kacsmaryk, known for his ultra-conservative views, issued a decision from Texas that was supposed to apply to the entire country.

At the same time, however, one of his colleagues, located in Washington State, ruled that the marketing authorization for mifepristone (RU 486), which is used in combination with another pill, could not be withdrawn in the 17 Democratic states that had seized it.

It will therefore quickly be up to the very conservative Supreme Court of the United States, deeply overhauled by former Republican President Donald Trump, to clarify the situation.

The Ministry of Justice will appeal

Judge Kacsmaryk's decision will not apply for another week anyway, as the magistrate has chosen to give the federal government time to appeal. This should not be long in coming.

"The Ministry of Justice strongly disagrees" with the decision, "it will appeal (...) and will seek a reprieve in the meantime," Minister Merrick Garland said in a statement.

In his 67-page ruling, Judge Kacsmaryk upheld most of the arguments in the lawsuit filed in November by a coalition of anti-abortion doctors and organizations against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Like them, it takes up studies on the risks attributed to the abortion pill, although they are considered negligible by the majority of the scientific community. He also accuses the FDA of failing to follow its procedures in order to meet a political objective.

A "threat" to "women's rights across the country", according to Kamala Harris

"This is unheard of and deeply damaging," said the powerful family planning organization Planned Parenthood, which runs many abortion clinics in the country.

"We should all be outraged that a judge can unilaterally reject medical evidence" to contradict the FDA, added its president Alexis McGill Johnson, noting that this decision could have consequences "far beyond abortion".

>> Read also: In the United States, Wyoming becomes the first state to ban the abortion pill

Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris also blasted "an unprecedented decision that threatens women's rights across the country" and expressed concern about the consequences for other cancer or diabetes drugs.

Democratic congressional lawmakers focused their criticism on Judge Kacsmaryk: an "extremist judge" for their former leader in the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, a "rogue judge" for his successor, Hakeem Jeffries.

Misoprostol, an alternative

On Friday, the group SBA Prolife America, an anti-abortion group, hailed "a victory for the health and safety of women and girls."

Even if the court ultimately suspended the FDA's authorization, it would probably take several months before its decision would apply. According to health law experts, the drug regulator must follow a strict procedure before withdrawing the authorization of a product.

Women and doctors could also fall back on another pill, misoprostol, whose use is now combined with mifepristone for greater effectiveness and less pain.

"We will not let this unfair decision prevent access to abortion pills" which, by "alternative routes", can "always arrive in your mailboxes", said Elisa Wells, founder of the Plan C information network on abortion pills.

With AFP

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