Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday issued its first ruling on the issue of abortion, restoring a federal requirement for women seeking to terminate their pregnancies with medication to pick up the pill in person from their medical provider.
The ruling comes in the midst of a COVID-19 pandemic, which limits many women's access to medication.
According to The New York Times, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said the ruling was limited and subject to expert opinion.
"Here, as in contexts related to government responses to the pandemic ... my view is that courts owe significant deference to politically responsible entities with the background, competence and experience to assess public health," he said.
For her part, Judge Sonia Sotomayor said that "the laws of this country have long pointed to abortions for more expensive treatment than other medical procedures that carry similar or greater risks.
In this regard, he said that maintaining the requirements for obtaining the drug in person during the pandemic "not only treats abortion exceptionally, but also imposes an undue, irrational and unjustifiable burden on women seeking to exercise their right to choose," and suggested that the next administration should review the issue.
"One can only hope that the government will reconsider and show greater care and empathy for women who are seeking some degree of control over their health and reproductive lives in these troubling times," Sotomayor said.
Drug abortions are allowed in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, where about 60 percent of such terminations in those weeks use two drugs instead of surgery.
Mifepristone is the first drug to be used; it blocks the effects of progesterone, a hormone without which the lining of the uterine walls begins to break down. The second drug is misoprostol, a tablet that induces contractions in the uterus to expel its contents.
Thus, women seeking to stop their pregnancy during the first 10 weeks must go in person to pick up the mifepristone and sign a form, even if they have already consulted their doctor remotely, while in the case of misoprostol it is not necessary to go in person, as it can even be requested at home.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents abortion clinics that defy Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rules, said no evidence has emerged during the pandemic that it is riskier for patients to receive the pills at home than in a clinic.
In December 2020, the same group argued before the Supreme Court that with the increase of the virus throughout the country, the reinstatement of the rules would "subject patients to serious and unnecessary health risks.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists joined the request for a waiver of the requirement, as they felt there was no good reason to require an office visit when the medication could be mailed.
