Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday issued its first ruling on the abortion issue, reinstating a federal requirement for women seeking to terminate their pregnancies through medication by requiring them 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 opinions.
"Here, as in contexts related to government responses to the pandemic ... my view is that courts owe significant deference to politically accountable entities with the background, competence and expertise to assess public health," he stressed.
For her part, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said that "the laws of this country have long singled out abortions for more costly treatment than other medical procedures that carry similar or greater risks".
In this sense, he specified that maintaining the requirements to obtain the drug in person during the pandemic, "not only treats abortion in an exceptional manner, but also imposes an unduly unnecessary, irrational and unjustifiable burden on women who seek to exercise their right to choose", for which he 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 seeking some degree of control over their health and reproductive lives in these unsettling times," Sotomayor said.
Medical abortions are allowed in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, where about 60 percent of such terminations in those weeks use two medications instead of surgery.
Mifepristone is the first drug to be used, which blocks the effects of progesterone, a hormone without which the lining of the uterine walls begins to break down, while 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 had already consulted their physician 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 rules, said no evidence has emerged during the pandemic to show that it is riskier for patients to receive the pills at home than at a clinic.
In December 2020, the same group argued before the Supreme Court, that with the virus on the rise across the country, reinstating the rules would "subject patients to serious and unnecessary health risks."
The request for the suspension of the requirement was joined by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, who felt that there was no good reason to require an office visit when the drug can be sent by mail.
