Abortion pill, mifepristone, blocked by Texas judge

Abortion pills like mifepristone have started to vanish as Texas court judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ruled that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had improperly approved mifepristone and misoprostol. Mifepristone and misoprostol work together to form a two-step drug that terminates a pregnancy. 

Alliance For Hippocratic Medicine (AHM), a Tennessee-based Christian organization, filed a lawsuit against the FDA concerning health risks. In the court case, they argued that “these emergencies consume crucial limited resources, including blood for transfusions, physician time and attention, space in hospital and medical centers, and other equipment and medicines.” They also claimed that this was a violation of the First Amendment due to some doctors feeling “forced to end the life of a human being in the womb for no medical reason, including by having to complete an incomplete elective chemical abortion.” Additionally, AHM argued that “14 percent of women and girls reported having received insufficient information about side effects, the intensity of the cramping and bleeding, the next steps after expelling the aborted human, and potential negative emotional reactions like fear, uncertainty, sadness, regret, and pain.”

On April 14, 2023, the court case was closed in favor of AHM. This raised concerns as 12 states have now had an almost complete ban on abortions. According to the study, “The mental health impact of receiving vs. being denied a wanted abortion,” throughout the five-year study period, women who received abortions were at low risk of experiencing suicidal thoughts. Pregnant people who use abortion pills usually make this choice due to their financial status. They may also want a greater sense of control and security by having a private abortion with an abortion pill. However, people who used abortion pills may feel unsupported and alone after the illegalization of both surgical abortions and abortion pills.

The ban on mifepristone and misoprostol not only affects pregnant people but also many who depend on it for other reasons such as treatment for Cushing syndrome, a condition that produces too much cortisol, a stress-related hormone. Others may rely on mifepristone for uterine leiomyomas, noncancerous growths in the uterus commonly in their 20s and 30s. 

As a result of the banning of abortions and abortion pills, many are left wondering, do the bans of abortions and abortion pills for health risks outweigh the consequences of financial instability and worsen other health risks imposed by the ban?