abortion pill – The Faithful Watchman

SCOTUS Blocks Restrictions on Federal Abortion Pill Delivery

Tauren Dyson – October 8, 2020

A Supreme Court ruling will temporarily prevent the enforcement of FDA restrictions that require women to pick up an abortion pill from the doctor during the coronavirus pandemic and will instead allow the medication to be mailed, according to NPR.

The decision lets women continue to get an abortion pill by mail after the high court pushed the case back down to a Maryland federal court for further review.

Three months ago, a federal judge in Maryland decided healthcare providers can have mifepristone mailed to patients. The drug was approved by the FDA in combination with misoprostol to terminate an early pregnancy.

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists challenged the FDA regulation since the agency has eased similar restrictions for medications such as opioids.

“It is a relief that for the next few weeks the Trump administration cannot force abortion patients to needlessly risk contracting a life-threatening disease as a condition of obtaining care,” said Julia Kaye, lead counsel for ACOG. “When President Trump is trying to rush through a third Supreme Court justice with the express goal of overturning Roe v. Wade, the court’s delayed ruling in this case gives little comfort that the right to abortion is secure.”

The Supreme Court asked for the Maryland federal judge to reevaluate the rule within 40 days, keeping the high court from acting any more on the issue until after the election.

https://www.newsmax.com

Doctor’s Visits No Longer Required for Women to Obtain Abortion Pill, Federal Judge Decides

Mikaela Mathews – July 16, 2020

This week, a federal judge in Maryland ruled that women do not need an ‘in-person’ doctor’s visit to obtain an abortion pill.

According to U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang, the current requirements for the abortion pill create a “substantial obstacle” for women, the Associated Press reports.

The case arose after the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in May, citing the difficulty women are currently facing to obtain an abortion during COVID-19.

“Particularly in light of the limited timeframe during which a medication abortion or any abortion must occur, such infringement on the right to an abortion would constitute irreparable harm,” he said in an 80-page decision.

Healthcare providers will now allow women to receive mifepristone through the mail. The previous rule required women to pick up the tablet at a hospital, clinic or medical office. The FDA’s lawyers argued the now-previous process required patients to sign a waiver providing lifesaving information that indicates the medical risks involved with taking the medication.

The lawsuit stated that the FDA rule has “particularly severe implications for low-income people and people of color, who comprise a disproportionate share of impacted patients and who are already suffering and dying from COVID-19 at substantially higher rates.”

“By causing certain patients to decide between forgoing or substantially delaying abortion care, or risking exposure to COVID-19 for themselves, their children, and family members, the In-Person Requirements present a serious burden to many abortion patients,” Chuang said.

Pro-life advocates, however, mourned the ruling, stating the harm it would cause women.

https://www.christianheadlines.com

42.4M babies killed by abortion in 2019; here’s what’s ahead for US abortion laws in 2020

Brandon Showalter – January 3, 2020

In 2019, around 42.4 million pregnancies ended in abortion worldwide.

According to Worldometers, which tabulates global statistics on abortion procedures based on the most current available figures from the World Health Organization, 40 to 50 million abortions are performed annually worldwide.

The website notes that in the United States, approximately half of pregnancies are “unintended” with four in 10 ending in an abortion, amounting to over 3,000 abortions being performed every day. Not including miscarriages, 22 percent of all pregnancies end in abortion. Globally, around 125,000 abortions happen every day.

The figures come following an increased push in Southern and Midwestern state legislatures in the U.S. to save lives by setting limits on abortion and enforcing health and safety standards for clinics. Alabama passed a near-total ban on abortion, while progressive states such as New York and Illinois passed laws allowing abortion up until a baby is born. Whereas Louisiana, Georgia Kentucky, Missouri and Ohio passed laws banning most abortions as soon as a preborn baby’s heartbeat can be detected.

The abortion rate in the U.S. has fallen significantly in recent years, a decrease that is attributed to a variety of factors.

From 2014 to 2017, the number of abortions performed in the U.S. dropped from 926,190 to 862,320, a 7 percent decrease and record low, according to data compiled by the Guttmacher Institute.

The means by which abortions are carried out has also changed with medication abortions (abortion pill) increasing from 5 percent of all abortions in 2001 to 39 percent in 2017, even as abortion rates have declined.

https://www.christianpost.com