Far-Reaching Judicial Decision Looms On Fate Of Abortion Pill Mifepristone
Vice President Kamala Harris is meeting with reproductive rights groups at the White House Friday and speak in defense of the drug used in medicated abortions, as well as the "authority" of the FDA, a U.S. official told Reuters. News outlets look ahead to a critical decision expected soon from a Texas judge.
Reuters:
U.S. VP Harris To Defend Abortion Pill Facing Legal Attack
Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to offer a defense of the abortion drug mifepristone in a meeting on Friday, according to a White House official, as some activist groups work to end U.S. sales of the pill. Anti-abortion groups have brought cases against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) claiming the agency used an improper process to approve mifepristone in 2000 and did not adequately consider its safety for minors. (Hunnicutt, 2/24)
KHN:
One Texas Judge Will Decide Fate Of Abortion Pill Used By Millions Of American Women
Federal judges in Texas have delivered time and again for abortion opponents. They upheld a state law that allows for $10,000 bounties to be placed on anyone who helps a woman get an abortion; ruled that someone opposed to abortion based on religious beliefs can block a federal program from providing birth control to teens; and determined that emergency room doctors must equally weigh the life of a pregnant woman and her embryo or fetus. (Varney, 2/24)
AP:
What Will Happen If Medication Abortion Challenge Succeeds?
Medication abortions in the United States usually involve two different drugs. In the latest effort to limit abortion access, opponents of the procedure are seeking to ban one of those medications. If they succeed, only one of the pills would be available, but women would still be able to get abortions. Here’s a look at medications, efforts to curtail them and how clinics are responding. (Tanner, 2/23)
NPR:
Why An Ulcer Drug Could Be The Last Option For Some Abortion Patients
A recent study by the Guttmacher Institute found that 98% of medication abortions in the U.S. used the two-drug protocol in 2020. But internationally, the second drug, misoprostol, has been used alone for decades, says Dr. Jamila Perritt, president and CEO of Physicians for Reproductive Health. Perritt says the case could leave both healthcare providers and patients facing complex medical and legal decisions about how to move forward without mifepristone. (McCammon, 2/24)
On public opinion —
The 19th:
Abortion Rights Support Was Growing Even Before Dobbs, Report Shows
Americans have become more supportive of abortion rights over time, and it’s not necessarily tied to the Supreme Court case last summer that overturned federal abortion rights, according to a new study. The nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) released a report Thursday that shows support for abortion legality in all or most cases has risen since 2010, with a notable increase beginning in 2020. (Mithani and Rodriguez, 2/23)
Jezebel:
More Than Half Of People In States Trump Won Support Abortion In 'Most Or All Cases'
Most Americans think abortion should be legal, including more than half of people who live in states Donald Trump won in 2020, according to a massive new survey of people in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., proving once again that abortion is overwhelmingly popular and that Republicans cannot read the room. (Cruz, 2/23)
From the states —
ProPublica:
Tennessee Lobbyists Oppose New Lifesaving Exceptions In Abortion Ban
In Tennessee, Republican lawmakers are considering whether patients should be forced to continue dangerous pregnancies, even while miscarrying, under the state’s abortion ban — and how close to risking death such patients need to be before a doctor can legally intervene. At a legislative hearing last week, a lobbyist who played a dominant role in crafting the state’s abortion legislation made his preference clear: A pregnant patient should be in the process of an urgent emergency, such as bleeding out, before they can receive abortion care. (Surana, 2/24)
Texas Observer:
Pregnant Texans Now Travel 10 Times Farther For An Abortion
Two years ago, if a Texan needed an abortion, they’d have to travel an average of 44 miles to get one. Today, that number is 497. (Hutchinson, 2/23)
Montana Free Press:
Republican legislators advance abortion restrictions, shut down protections for reproductive rights
As the Legislature nears a critical deadline for transmitting bills, lawmakers are advancing new abortion regulations and rejecting measures to protect reproductive health access. (Silvers, 2/23)
News Service of Florida:
State Seeks To Move Forward With Law Cutting Public Money To Abortion Clinics
Pointing to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last year to overturn Roe v. Wade, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody on Wednesday asked a federal judge to scrap a 2016 ruling that prevented the state from cutting off public money to abortion providers for health services unrelated to abortion. (Saunders, 2/23)
Also —
USA Today:
Patients Worried IVF Treatments Could Become Illegal Under Abortion Bans, Doctors Say
Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, hundreds of frantic phone calls have poured into fertility centers across the nation from patients worried not about abortion access, but about their frozen embryos. Patients are contacting doctors to discuss the legal status of fertilized embryos and decide whether to move them to states with looser abortion restrictions, said Jennifer Hirshfeld-Cytron, vice president and physician at Fertility Centers of Illinois. (Fernando, 2/24)
