Wyoming on Friday became the first US state to ban the abortion pill, which is a new victory for conservatives, who intend to roll back access to abortion in the United States. Governor Mark Gordon has called on lawmakers to go further and enshrine a total ban on abortion in the Western state's Constitution and put it to the vote of voters.
The move comes as many abortion opponents seek to ban the abortion pill nationwide, after the Supreme Court's decision last year to bury abortion rights at federal. Since then, fifteen states have decided to ban all pregnancy terminations on their soil.
"I believe that all life is sacred and that every individual, including unborn children, should be treated with dignity and compassion," Gordon said Friday evening.
Crucial decision expected in Texas
A ruling on that is expected soon in court in Amarillo, Texas, where an ultraconservative federal judge is set to rule on a potential federal ban on mifepristone.
This pill, the most widely used for medical termination of pregnancy (IVG), was authorized in 2000 by the American Medicines Agency (FDA). Texas federal judge Matthew Kacsmaryk could order it to be taken off the market nationwide.
Texas lawmakers are also considering a proposal, which would not only ban abortion pills, but also require state internet providers to block access to sites where these pills are sold by mail order.
Since the Supreme Court of the United States returned, in June 2022, its freedom to legislate to each state, about fifteen of them have limited access to mifepristone by requiring that a doctor provide it, according to Guttmacher Institute, a research center, which defends the right of women to abortion.
If the Texas federal judge rules for a nationwide ban on the abortion pill, abortion rights groups say it will have as big an impact as last year's Supreme Court ruling.
