Bodily autonomy faces legal battles

BY BRYN FAWN Opinions Editor & PR Chair

Bodily autonomy has been an ever-growing concern for American citizens. The discussion heavily revolves around access to abortion, birth control and reproductive healthcare.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of Texas suspended the approval of Mifepristone, a pill used for abortions. The Food and Drug Administration has approved the drug for more than 20 years, but Kacsmaryk ruled against it April 7, giving a short window for appeals to be made against the ruling.

A prescription from a doctor is required to be able to take Mifepristone.

The drug is also called Korlym and Mifeprex. The medication can terminate pregnancies 10 weeks or less, but it can also be used to help regulate high blood sugar in type 2 diabetics with Cushing Syndrome.

Another judge, Thomas O. Rice of Washington, ruled that the FDA cannot remove Mifepristone from shelves, hours after Kacsmaryk’s ruling, due to citizens having the right to access to the drug.

The ban of Mifepristone is not the first legislative attack on abortion rights in Texas. It is illegal to have an abortion in the state currently. However, more than half of all abortions are performed with the help of Mifepristone, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that sup- ports abortion rights.

“If this ruling were to stand, then there will be virtually no prescription, approved by the FDA, that would be safe from these kinds of political, ideologi-