The future of a pill used by half a million American women each year to terminate their pregnancies is being played out on Wednesday in Texas before an ultra-conservative judge, who opponents of abortion are asking to suspend its authorization for all States. United.
The hearing, the holding of which was kept secret until Monday to avoid possible overflows, began at 9 a.m. (2 p.m. GMT) in a court in Amarillo, and only a very limited public was authorized to attend.
Outside, a handful of demonstrators hold signs saying "Not your uterus, not your decision" or "Let's defend medical abortion". Among them, Lindsay London, a 41-year-old nurse, deplores a legal remedy "100% ideological, which has no scientific basis".
Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, who was a lawyer for a Christian organization before being appointed to this post by former Republican President Donald Trump, will spend several hours questioning the parties.
He will then be able to render his decision at any time in this case likely to have an impact as resounding as the judgment of the Supreme Court of the United States having dynamited, last June, the right to abortion at the federal level.
Since then, fifteen states have banned all abortions on their soil, and therefore the abortion pill. But it is still widely used elsewhere. This is what is threatened today.
In November, a coalition of doctors and anti-abortion groups filed a complaint against the United States Drug Administration (FDA), which they accuse of having authorized 23 years ago mifepristone (RU 486), one of the two pills used for medical termination of pregnancy.
The plaintiffs accuse the FDA of having chosen "politics over science", by approving a "dangerous" chemical, and of having "exceeded its prerogatives".
Pending the examination of the substantive arguments, they requested that the authorization of mifepristone be suspended throughout the territory.
Strategically, they brought their appeal to Amarillo, a Texas city away from major urban centers, where Matthew Kacsmaryk is the only federal judge.
Her profile and her claimed opposition to abortion have raised concern in the ranks of advocates of the right to abortion.
"It seems incredible that a simple judge in Texas could make a decision that would impact a product approved by health authorities and marketed safely for more than twenty years", criticizes Elisa Wells, founder of the Plan C network of information on abortion pills, from AFP.
Such a decision would be "devastating for women", had already denounced ten days ago the spokesperson for the White House, Karine Jean-Pierre.
Since the year 2000, more than 5.6 million women have used this pill in the United States and a tiny proportion (less than 1,500) have subsequently experienced complications, without a link being established, after the FDA.
Today, the majority (53%) of pregnancy terminations are medical, a less intrusive and less costly procedure than surgical abortions.
The decision of Judge Kacsmaryk, whatever it is, may be appealed which will be examined by the federal appeals court of New Orleans, also known for its conservatism. The case could again end up before the Supreme Court of the United States which, since its reshuffle by Donald Trump, has six conservative magistrates out of nine.
Even if the court ultimately suspended the FDA's authorization, it would probably take several months before its decision applied. 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 a second pill, misoprostol, the use of which is combined today with mifepristone for greater efficiency and less pain.
"In any case, I think it will be chaotic when the judge makes his decision," predicts Elisa Wells.
03/15/2023 18:41:01 - Amarillo (United States) (AFP) - © 2023 AFP
