Future of mifepristone at issue as rightwing groups seek to roll back measures taken by the FDA to expand drug’s availability
Abortion is back at the US supreme court, with arguments on Tuesday in the first major case on the issue since a 6-3 majority ruled in 2022 to overturn Roe v Wade and end the national right to abortion – a decision that unleashed abortion bans throughout the country as well as a political backlash that Democrats hope will serve them in the coming presidential election.
At issue in the case is the future of mifepristone, a drug typically used in US medication abortions. The rightwing groups that brought the case are seeking to roll back measures taken by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to expand the drug’s availability in recent years.
A decision in their favor would apply nationwide, including to states that protect abortion access, and would likely make the drug more difficult to acquire. The loosening of restrictions on mifepristone have helped mitigate the impact of post-Roe abortion bans; if those restrictions are reimposed, abortion rights groups anticipate it will become significantly more difficult to access abortions in the US.
“More than 60% of abortions in the US are medication abortions, so that would impact a substantial number of people, whether you live in a protective state or a restricted state,” said Nicole Huberfeld, a health law professor at Boston University’s School of Public Health.
So to clear this up,
Republicans got rid of Roe v Wade by finally getting their way in the courts system, and a dozen Republican controlled states banned abortion.
Democrats introduced and all voted for a bill to codify right to abortion. It did not pass the Senate because all Republicans voted against it.
Biden and the FDA, which is under executive (presidential) control, tried to expand access to an abortion drug that has been used safely for over twenty years, and the Republicans sued to stop it because they found a technicality from 24 years ago (Got 'em!).
We can talk all day about who is taking away rights and who is trying to preserve rights.
If you’re “on the fence” between Trump and Biden, you’re a liar or need to find better sources for whatever information you’re getting
24 years ago? Try 150 years ago.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comstock_laws
One of these laws was cited.
Luckily it looks like the supreme court is just gonna shoot down the whole case rather than open the box of worms of courts overturning fda approvals.
Hahahaha.
I continue to believe that the only way forwards for the USA is to go so far backwards that the populous wakes up and starts to change. Without that, it’s a lost cause and a failed nation.
When all those suburban women voters who voted for Trump can’t get their teenage daughter an abortion, times will change. It’ll be 20 years from now, but that’s what it takes.
I continue to believe that the only way forwards for the USA is to go so far backwards that the populous wakes up and starts to change.
Prior to 1875, the US ran an unrestricted immigration policy – you show up at the border, you can stay. That should change things!
Between 1870 and 1900 there were 12,000,000 people who came to the US. That’s an average of 400,000 per year
In December of 2023 we had 249,735 that showed up to the Texas /Mexico border.
249,735 x 12 = 2,996,820 that kind of influx would be absolutely unsustainable.
Even if we went with (what looks like an average) for 2023 at the border… 150,000 per month
That would come to be 1,800,000 per year… And that is just the Mexico border. That would still be unsustainable.
Nah, we could sustain way higher rates of population growth than we have now. Right now, we’re historically low.
Here’s a history of the US showing population growth by decade:
https://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h980.html
Every census up until 1860, we grew at a rate of over 30% every ten years.
The last decade, we did 7.4%, our lowest rate in the history of the country.
The decade before, 9.7%.
The US has consistently seen population growth outpacing that of other developed countries.
That sustained, explosive growth is a very large part part of how the US became a hell of a lot richer and more powerful in a short period of time than other countries did. At the time of the American Revolution, we had a population about a fifth the size of France’s. Today, we have a population about five times that of France’s. Current UN projections are that we’ll be larger than the European Union as a whole before the end of the century (well, though the EU stands to maybe gain a few new joining members, so no guarantee).
There were 38 million people in the US in 1870. 400k people coming in is a hell of a lot higher proportion of the total population of 40 million than it is to 340 million.
No comparison with population levels at the time means you’re lying with real numbers.
Why would it be unsustainable? Immigration is pretty much always a net contributor to GDP, even if you only consider the fact that the consumption of calories is economic activity, and completely disregard any additional labor contribution.
That’s called accelerationism, and it’s human sacrifice with more steps.
Accelerationism is also naive because it assumes that what comes out on the other end is any better than what we have now. Especially if your ultimate vision is a complex political and civil landscape which requires a bunch of infrastructure and institutions we already have. It took humans a long time to get this far, so the idea that starting from scratch can be faster than iterating within the current system is pretty dumb.
The last valid decision on this subject remains Roe v. Wade.
This court is illegitimate and should be ignored at all levels.
Biden, seeking a second term in office in the Nov. 5 U.S. election, is an outspoken advocate for abortion rights. He and his fellow Democrats have sought to make abortion rights a central theme against Republicans ahead of the election.
what is really worrying is if Biden or Trump wins what will the US people lose the right to next? whatever it is we are sure the democrats are going to use it to raise funds and as a carrot for Americans still on the treadmill
If you want to secure rights, you need a big enough liberal majority to override conservative Democrats. It’s that simple. It’s not the Democrats taking your rights. Vote blue otherwise you’re just helping to take away rights.
Agreed. America has a broad rural-inflected conservative streak. That will take time to erode. In the wrong set of circumstances, it could actually get worse, though, including apathy that lets Trump win. The US also has certain practical limitations that give rural conservatives more powerful than they’d have in a place like, say, France, where the center polis can dominate the provinces.
Even with that, people still need to know there is no path to political power that embraces Christian Nationalism and/or unvarnished 1930s authoritarianism, and I don’t believe our system is so broken that we can’t do that at the ballot box. Pulling the Overton Window to the left takes time, and pretending that there are not serious, systemic differences of political thought in mainstream America is, let’s say, counterproductive.
And you need a candidate who isn’t poop.
The system totally sucks but we should not be having this discussion during an election year after both presumptive candidates are all but locked in. Any change to the two party system should be made in isolation of any specific candidates or election, so that new and viable contenders can step up and campaign on their own merits instead of just being “not the other guy”.
Well, the past 4 years we’ve let the GOP spread the propaganda that Biden has ruined the economy, despite global costs rising, a global recession that we somehow avoided, corporate greed, state governments increasing regressive sales tax, and Trump era tax breaks for the rich.
Progressives have been angry with Biden for not somehow forcing the Republicans (or Manchin) to do what he wants, despite the fact that we avoided a Republican driven attempt to put the U.S. into default.
Biden has been criticized for his handling of the student debt despite the fact that he has used very clever workarounds to push as much out as possible.
Biden has been attacked for being both open border and his ridiculous restrictions on immigrants when public support for increased border security is at an all time high. No way to win there.
He is judged for being old, despite being extremely knowledgeable and often times clever about how he handles Republican hurdles.
People need to look at his resume. He’s probably the best president we’ve had in 50 years. But the news only cares that he tripped on a sandbag and there’s a line of people at the border (since they reduced the number of entry points but we don’t talk about that or the natural disasters that have sent people here).
I agree, Biden has done a remarkable job. I think his main failing is that he (like a lot of democrats) have let right wing pundits and GOP leaders drive the messaging around his presidency. At some point they need to figure out how to work the press more effectively.
A lot of it is mostly spurred by Trump just…doing whatever the hell he wanted through EOs, because they didn’t notice or care that the GOP controlled both Congress and SCOTUS and thus there was really nobody to challenge the legality of those EOs. So people think “well hell, why can’t Biden just order those loans forgiven regardless” or “why hasn’t Biden just ordered this thing done, Trump did it”.
Very well put
Both sides both sides both sides, I love not having to think
“The people fighting for your rights don’t have enough power. Fuck those guys.”
Not disagreeing. Just adding.
if Biden or Trump wins
Is there a third option you think has a chance?
Yellowstone Mega Volcano popping off and causing an apocalypse for humanity?
Giant Meteor 2024
I’m still pulling for Alien Invasion 2024.
Not at this election atm
Im rooting for Literally Anyone Else.
Roger Stone and Kenneth Copeland?
So you’re living in a fantasy world?
Barring the grim reaper intervening, there is no realistic scenario where either Trump or Biden isn’t the next president.
While they are both old, it’s clear which one is less bad for the country.
