An American judge allowed all women who visit any clinic or medical hospital during the coronavirus pandemic to get a contraceptive pill. This pill will be available without getting a checkup from a doctor.
The District Judge named Theodore Chuang from Maryland gave this judgment related to women seeking in-personal contraceptive pills for which the pandemic was causing an unreasonable delay.
He said that in this pandemic period where such medical intervention may be vital, delaying it is like infringing the fundamental right of the health of all citizens. The judge has given 80 pages long decision on this case.
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Under this judgment, all healthcare providers are directed to arrange the contraceptive pills and make it available for all in-clinic visits or by mail.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a medicine named mifepristone a popular contraceptive medicine to be used with another medicine misoprostol for self-induced abortion or induce a natural miscarriage.
Delaying medical care during this hard time when the whole world is going through a difficult time is increasing their risk of the virus. And the problem doesn’t end here. These women and their families both are at risk as this denial of abortion may affect their quality of life, the judgment says.
On the other side HHS, U.S FDA is facing a severe backlash from numerous groups such as and The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists after this decision.
Skye Perryman who is the legal representative of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says that the FDA’s limitations on using this contraceptive pill aren’t truly necessary and they do not cause any severe complication in the patients.
This ruling actually highlights the problems and burden that women tolerate during this difficult phase of their life which is already compromised by the ongoing pandemic, says Perryman.
The FDA’s requirement of in-clinic treatment for ab abortion is called unnecessary by the legal representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union. They further say that this denial of treatment is against the constitutional rights of the American women as they violate the American Constitution’s Fifth Amendment.
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The federal lawyers say that these requirements are important to make sure that the patient is safe. The reason behind the FDA’s rule on the use of this contraceptive pill requires patients to take one mifepristone tablet at a healthcare unit under a doctor’s supervision, after signing a form that states potential side effects of the pill.
This judgment says that the suspension of these requirements is necessary to avoid unnecessary traveling and attending a healthcare unit for abortion.
But the judge has set no geographical boundaries for the implementation of this decision. As per the ongoing pandemic, the relief will allow millions of women to get rid of the unwanted pregnancies.
Nearly 4 million women in the US have tried either mifepristone or misoprostol or their combination to terminate their pregnancy. The combination of these two was behind the 39% abortions in the U.S. in the year 2017, states this lawsuit.
