US Abortion Landscape Changes Once Again Thanks to Federal Appeals Court Ruling

A federal appeals court has upheld an abortion pill, which clarifies the abortion picture in the US but does not settle it. The court’s decision Wednesday night preserved but reduced access to an abortion pill in the US It was an important development in a rapidly changing landscape. in process of change since junewhen the Supreme Court struck down the nation’s right to abortion.

Most abortions in the US are obtained through a combination of two drugs. Anti-abortion groups have been trying to limit access to one of them, mifepristone.

The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans ruled that the initial approval of mifepristone by the Food and Drug Administration in 2000 must remain in force, vacating a district court ruling of less than a week earlier. Without Wednesday’s ruling, the drug would not have been available in at least some places as of Saturday.

The 2-1 ruling came with a catch: The judges stayed a 2016 regulatory decision to relax some prescription and dispensing rules. The decision means the drug can be used only in the first seven weeks of pregnancy, instead of 10, and can’t be delivered by mail to a person who doesn’t first visit a doctor’s office.

Either party could appeal Wednesday’s ruling to the US Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, what it means is not entirely clear.

The latest ruling came in response to one last week from a judge in Amarillo, Texas, who ruled that mifepristone should not be available pending review for approval. On the same day, another federal judge in Spokane, Washington, ruled in favor of the attorneys general of 17 Democratic-led states that sued to try to keep it on the market.

The states are: Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia.

The United States Department of Justice has asked the Washington court to clarify its ruling. It’s also unclear what the Fifth Circuit’s decision means for him.

Meanwhile, some Democratic-controlled states are store abortion pills, while Wyoming last month became the first state to explicitly prohibit abortion drugs.

In the US, advocates have sued over dozens of abortion laws.

In 2019, the Iowa Supreme Court blocked a law that prohibits abortion once heart activity can be detected, which occurs after about six weeks of pregnancy and often before women know they are pregnant. Officials in the Republican-dominated state have been pushing to overturn that ruling.

On Tuesday, the matter reached the state Supreme Court, where the seven justices are appointed by the Republican Party. A decision is expected this summer.

Also Tuesday, a Montana judge denied Family planning of Montana’s request to preemptively block legislation that would ban abortions by dilation and evacuation, the type most commonly used in the second trimester of pregnancy. Opponents said they wanted to act quickly because the law would take effect immediately if Gov. Greg Gianforte signs it. Gianforte has previously approved other restrictions on abortion.

nebraska legislators introduced a bill Wednesday that would ban abortion once heart activity can be detected.

In February, the South Carolina Senate approved the ban. The same month, the House approved one that would apply throughout the pregnancy. The two chambers have not yet negotiated which version to send to the governor.

In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is expected to run for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination next year, supported ending abortion access before the 15 weeks currently in effect there. He will now have a chance to sign into law after the House of Representatives on Thursday approved a ban after six weeks of gestation. It had already been approved in the Senate.

Most Democratic-controlled states have adopted laws, issued executive orders, or both, to protect abortion access. After Senate approval Monday, both houses of the state legislature in Washington state have approved one, but it has yet to be signed by the governor.

Abortion is already effectively banned at all stages of pregnancy in 13 states, and when heart activity can be detected in one.

Courts have blocked pregnancy bans in five other states, including one, Georgia, where abortion is prohibited once heart activity is detected.

republicans in many places they are pushing for even tougher policies.

This month, Idaho Governor Brad Little signed a law turning it into a crime an adult helping a minor to abort without parental consent.

The Iowa attorney general took another step this month, announcing that her office stop paying for emergency contraception and abortions for victims of sexual assault while studying politics.

Abortion bans have a major impact on where women go to terminate pregnancies.

A report published this week by the Family Planning Society finds that the number of monthly abortions within states that ban abortions during pregnancy dropped to or near zero, and the number of abortions in medical facilities decreased overall.

But the largest increases in the number of abortions have occurred in states that have kept abortion legal and are close and easily accessible from those with the deepest restrictions.

Among the states with large increases: Florida, Illinois and North Carolina.

Some other states that have taken the boldest steps to preserve abortion access have seen relatively modest increases in the number provided.

The survey does not measure the number of self-managed abortions, such as with pills that were not prescribed to the user.

Mulvihill reported from Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Associated Press reporters Margery Beck in Omaha, Nebraska; Amy Beth Hanson in Helena, Montana; Anthony Izaguirre in Tallahassee, Florida; Scott McFetridge in Des Moines, Iowa; and James Pollard in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed to this report.