The Supreme Court recently took the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. The landmark judgment had established the right to abortion nearly 50 years ago. It guaranteed federal constitutional protections of abortion rights and was followed by Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision in 1992. But now, it has been struck down.
Justice Samuel Alito in his statement said, “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start.” The new decision affects a lot of aspects connected to abortion. One of them is the availability of abortion pills. Will the recent judgment make it more challenging for Americans to get the pills? Here’s everything you need to know about the effects of this decision.
Read More: Roe Vs Wade: Piers Morgan Criticizes Michelle Obama As She Misspells ‘Woman’ In A Related Post
The Immediate Effect Of The Overturn Of Roe v. Wade In America
More than half of all U.S. abortions in 2020 were medication abortions. But 13 states have trigger laws going into effect that will ban all or nearly every abortion, including medication abortions. “Patients in the ban states will have no access to abortion by any method,” said Helene Krasnoff, vice president of public policy litigation and law at Planned Parenthood.
Bans on abortion pills, however, may get into ambiguous legal territory as the medications are federally approved. Attorney General Merrick Garland said, “states may not ban mifepristone based on disagreement with the FDA’s expert judgment about its safety and efficacy.“
Alina Salganicoff, director of women’s health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation, said much is still unknown about how the issue will play out in the coming times. “We haven’t been in a situation where the FDA has approved a drug as safe and effective and you can use it legally in one state without any problem and then in another state it’s banned,” she shared.
With Roe overturned, trigger laws immediately took effect in Kentucky, Louisiana, and South Dakota. In other states, a state official must certify that Roe has been overturned before abortion bans go into effect. This has happened in Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Mississippi, North Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming will also follow suit soon. Another 30 days would be needed for trigger laws to take effect in Idaho, Tennessee, and Texas.
Challenges American Women Have To Face To Obtain Illegal Abortion Pill
In all the states we mentioned, abortion laws target the providers of procedures and pills. Abortion bans will force many clinics to shut down. This will close the way of obtaining abortion pills, but it will still be difficult to restrict access to the pills, even if it’s technically illegal.
“In the beginning, it’s going to be pretty hard to track and follow and enforce a lot of this, particularly because people can’t go into other people’s mail,” Salganicoff said, adding, “when you make something illegal or banned, a black market always arises.“
Those seeking abortions despite bans in their states might travel to another state to get the pills where they are legal. They can also use an address in another state and then have the package forwarded or seek providers in other states willing to ship pills by mail under the table. They may also depend on providers in other countries that mail pills to the U.S. or obtain the medications abroad. “We will have clinicians that will test these new laws for sure,” Salganicoff said.
Organizations Still Open To Delivering Abortion Pills, But Is It Safe?
Aid Access, a nonprofit organization in Europe, is one of the groups that send abortion pills to U.S. residents. “Aid Access will continue to help women in the U.S.A.,” company founder and doctor Rebecca Gompertstold told NBC News. However, this can also raise the risk of quality or safety issues.
But even before Roe v. Wade was overturned, many states had restrictions on medication abortions. In 19 states, laws either ban access to or require a clinician to be physically present when the pills are taken. In the other 32 states, physicians must administer the pills, not nurse practitioners or physician assistants. Due to this, services that provide abortion care and prescriptions via telehealth don’t anticipate much change to their business.
Another organization, Abortion on Demand, requires patients to be in a state where abortion is legal at the time of their online appointment. Because of such conditions, the company might have to stop providing medication in some states.
