International
The Supreme Court is inclined not to restrict the use of the abortion pill in the United States
The Supreme Court (TS) of the United States held a hearing on Tuesday on mifepristone, a substance used in abortion pills, and the judges mostly inclined not to restrict its use, in the most important abortion case that the highest court has had since it overthrewed the ‘Roe vs Wade’ ruling in 2022.
Despite the fact that the TS has a conservative majority and was the body that eliminated the constitutional protection of abortion almost two years ago, today it showed its reluctance to believe that the anti-abortion medical association Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine has shown that it suffered the type of damage that it entitles it to sue.
During the almost two hours that the oral arguments lasted, the Government and the pharmaceutical company GenBioPro emphasized their safety and thus rejected the arguments of Erin Hawley, a lawyer for the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, that the substance is dangerous.
A view rejected by multiple studies that have shown that the substance, used in most abortions in the United States, is safe.
The judges – whose decision will be known at the end of June or the beginning of July – are examining whether the regulatory changes carried out in 2016 and 2021 by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that made the drug available by mail and was prescribed by a health provider who does not have to be a doctor were legal.
Judge Samuel Alito, who was precisely the one who drafted the 2022 decision that annulled ‘Roe vs Wade’, was one of those who today showed his dissatisfaction with the Joe Biden administration’s argument that doctors do not have the legal right or “legitimacity” to sue.
“Is there anyone who can sue and obtain a court ruling about whether what the FDA did was legal? Maybe what they did was perfectly legal. But shouldn’t someone be able to challenge that in the courts?” the conservative asked.
But there were more who expressed doubts. The also conservative Neil M. Gorsuch described this case as “an excellent example of how to convert what could be a small demand into a legislative assembly” into a case “at the national level about the approval of the FDA.”
It has been almost two years since the Supreme Court eliminated the ‘Roe vs Wade’ doctrine that had protected abortion nationally for decades. Since then, two dozen states have restricted or banned abortion and that is why ‘teleabortion’ has been the solution for millions of women in the country.
A judicial decision restricting mifepristone would affect service providers in all states, including those where abortion is still legal. It would also make the aforementioned procedure difficult, by which women receive abortion pills by mail and are treated by doctors electronically.
And it could call into question the ability of the FDA to approve and distribute other medicines.
This case began in November 2022, after a group of doctors and anti-abortion medical organizations sued the FDA.
The coalition filed the challenge in Amarillo (Texas) and Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk, appointed by Trump and openly opposed to abortion, issued a preliminary ruling invalidating the approval of the drug and withdrawing the pill from the market.
In August 2023, three judges of the Court of Appeals of the Fifth Circuit of the United States, one of the most conservative appeals courts in the country, determined that mifepristone should remain legal, but imposed important access restrictions, which are now in the air, pending the decision of the Supreme Court.
Mifepristone is one of the two medications used in a drug abortion and is combined with misoprostol to terminate a pregnancy.
It blocks progesterone, a hormone necessary for the pregnancy to continue, while misoprostol causes uterine contractions, which causes the body to expel the fetus.
Numerous studies indicate that the combination of these pills causes a complete abortion in more than 99% of patients.
The Planned Parenthood organization recalled on Tuesday in a statement that mifepristone is “safe and effective, with or without a visit to a health center” and that it has been used by more than five million people in the United States for more than 23 years.
In the opinion of Alexis McGill Johnson, president and general director of the organization, this case is a sign that “those who oppose abortion remain committed” to controlling women’s bodies “prohibiting abortion throughout the country.”
International
Seven bodies found with signs of torture in Sinaloa
Mexican authorities discovered seven lifeless bodies on Wednesday, showing clear signs of torture, in the rural area of Culiacán, Sinaloa, just one day after the same number of bodies was found in several municipalities in the western state of Mexico.
Six of these seven victims were found along the side of the highway that connects Culiacán to Mazatlán, near Laguna de Canachi, according to local media reports, which also noted that messages addressed to a criminal group were found near the bodies.
This brings the total number of violent deaths in the region to seven within just 24 hours. On Tuesday, authorities reported more victims found in the municipalities of Culiacán, Elota, and Mazatlán.
Among the victims identified was a local cattle rancher named Ramón Velázquez Ontiveros, as well as a police officer from Mazatlán, who was killed by a motorcyclist outside his home in San Marcos.
International
Málaga paralyzed by new storm as torrential rains hit Spain
Thousands of people were evacuated and trains were suspended as torrential rains once again struck Spain on Wednesday, following the devastating floods that killed at least 223 people two weeks ago, most of them in the Valencia region.
The national meteorological agency (Aemet) issued a maximum, red-level alert for the Andalusian province of Málaga in the south, and for Tarragona in the northeast, due to the new DANA (isolated depression at high levels), also known as a cold drop.
The city of Málaga appeared to be the hardest hit by the rains, with more than 3,000 people evacuated from 1,000 homes near rivers, flooded streets, and the suspension of urban transport and train services to Madrid.
“Today Málaga is paralyzed,” said Andalusia’s regional president, Juan Manuel Moreno, to reporters. “I know it is a problem for citizens not being able to take their children to school or go to work, but after what we saw in Valencia, we need to ‘prevent’ and minimize the impact in terms of loss of life,” he added.
The storm also led to the postponement of a match between Spain and Poland in the Billie Jean King Cup women’s tennis competition, which was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon in Málaga.
International
Hezbollah launches explosive drone strike on Israel’s defense headquarters
The Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah claimed on Wednesday that it launched an attack with explosive drones against the Israeli army’s headquarters in Tel Aviv.
The Iran-backed organization reported in a statement that it had carried out “an aerial attack with a squadron of explosive drones” targeting the site that houses Israel’s main defense institutions.
Hezbollah later stated that it also fired a barrage of rockets at the Glilot military intelligence base in the suburbs of Tel Aviv.
The Israeli military indicated that “sirens sounded in several areas of northern and central Israel following the launch of projectiles from Lebanon.”
It later clarified that “five projectiles were identified over the territory, and some were intercepted.”
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