The Florida Parliament voted on Thursday to reduce the abortion period to 6 weeks, while the state in the southeastern United States has long been considered a recourse solution for women from the “southern deep”.
The two court decisions, which fell successively, were received as yet another blow for the defenders of the right to abortion in the United States.
The first, coming from New Orleans, came to drastically reduce the field of action of the abortion pill mifepristone, used in more than half of abortions across the Atlantic.
The second, enacted from Florida, severely undermined the use of abortion in this state in the south-east of the country.
“As extremist elected officials continue to attack reproductive freedom, President Biden and I will fight back,” promised Vice President Kamala Harris, very committed to the abortion file after a decision last June by the US Supreme Court. By ending Roe v. Wade, the institution gave the possibility to conservative states to ban abortion on their territory.
Battle between Washington and conservative judges
Regarding the abortion pill, the battle was opened on Friday April 7 by Matthew Kacsmaryk, an ultra-conservative federal judge appointed in Texas by Donald Trump. The latter had decided to end the marketing authorization given by the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) to mifepristone, the most widely used abortion pill in the United States.
However, he had given the White House a week to appeal his decision. A court of appeal located in New Orleans was therefore seized by the administration of Joe Biden, who argued that mifepristone did not pose any risks for women, contrary to what Matthew Kacsmaryk argued. Less than 1% of them have to be hospitalized after using the drug.
An argument that apparently did not convince the three federal judges seized. Although not fully adopting the decision of their Texan colleague, they decided to limit the use of mifepristone to the first 7 weeks of pregnancy, against 10 in the past. But more importantly, they banned it from being mailed, which is how many women in rural or conservative areas obtain the molecule.
Worthless legal decisions?
After this decision, presented as “one more step towards a total ban on abortion nationwide”, Kamala Harris announced that Washington would seize the Supreme Court to rule on this decision. Problem, after the many appointments made by Donald Trump during his term, the highest court in the country is deeply conservative.
But the greatest confusion reigns concerning the future of the abortion pill. First, because a judge appointed by Barack Obama and practicing from Washington State issued a judgment last Friday, making it impossible to ban mifepristone in the majority of Democratic states allowing abortion.
Secondly, because even if the Supreme Court were to validate the prohibition or the limitation of mifepristone, the FDA, at the origin of its marketing authorization, could not follow the legal injunction.
The New York Times recalls that the agency has considered the drug to be safe for 23 years. It is even subject to in-depth monitoring to which only 60 other molecules in the country are subject. And even if a market withdrawal process were initiated, the delays could be extremely long, possibly several years.
Florida increasingly conservative
The other front opened Thursday by opponents of abortion is in Florida. In this state led by Ron DeSantis, presented as a more than potential candidate for the presidency of 2024, Republican ideas are gaining ground. Previously seen as a swing-state headed to the center, Florida has been increasing conservative measures in recent months, especially at school.
Thus, with 70 votes for and 40 against, the elected members of the Florida parliament spoke on Thursday for a reduction to six weeks of the period for recourse to abortion in the state. A year ago, this period was 24 weeks (it is 14 in France, editor’s note), before being reduced to 15, then now 6.
For the defenders of the right to abortion, this decision is heavy with consequences. Florida was once seen by many women from conservative “Deep South” states as a safe, legal abortion option.
Proof of this is, since the end of the Roe v. Wade and the ban on abortion in the majority of cases in states like Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, the demand for abortions in Florida increased in 2022 like in no other American state.
“Dismantling our fundamental freedoms”
“Today we are leading by example. Today we are fighting for life. We are standing with the mothers, with the families of Florida. And with this vote today, we are moving from a culture of abortion to a culture of life,” Republican lawmaker Jenna Persons-Mulicka said after the Florida vote.
At the White House, it was a completely different discourse that resonated on Thursday. “Elected Republicans continue their work to dismantle our fundamental freedoms, including goals to ban abortion nationwide,” said US executive spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre.
Immediately after the ruling, dozens of protesters gathered in Tallahassee, where Florida’s state legislature is located. “We are seeing more and more support, thumbs up, from people passing by our level,” explained to the Washington Post Rhea Das, a pro-abortion nurse.
“Most Floridians and most Americans don’t want this kind of law,” she said.
