Washington (EFE).- The US Vice President, Kamala Harris, became this Wednesday the voice of those who fear more restrictions on abortion and promised that she will fight tirelessly to protect the right of every American to decide about their body.
Harris’ statements come at a time when the United States is awaiting the entry into force this Friday of a court ruling that seeks to ban the marketing of a drug called mifepristone and used in more than half of all abortions. in the country.
“America’s women are in a state of constant terror about what all this could mean for them and the people they love,” said Harris, who led a meeting with senior government officials, including Attorney General Merrick Garland, to assess the situation.
Harris has led the fight for abortion access since almost a year ago the conservative majority of the US Supreme Court ended the constitutional protection of that right, allowing each state to set its own laws to prohibit or restrict abortion .
The vice president has traveled in the last year to different US states to learn first-hand about the experience of pregnant people after the Supreme Court decision.
She has talked to people like Amanda, who miscarried and went to the doctor three times for medical attention but couldn’t find any help. She was only treated when she was so serious that her life was in danger, Harris recounted this Wednesday, visibly moved.
Most abortions are currently prohibited in 12 of the 50 US states, and in some cases exceptions are only made when the mother’s life is at risk.
Harris warned that the situation could worsen if, as planned, the court ruling by Texas Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, appointed by former President Donald Trump (2017-2021) and who seeks to restrict the termination of pregnancy with medication, enters into force this Friday. .
In those states where abortion had been banned, many women were turning to pills because they are easily accessible, being delivered by mail.
Specifically, the Texas judge’s ruling targets mifepristone, the marketing of which was approved in 2000 by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the US medical regulator.
The FDA did numerous checks before approving this drug and ensures that it is totally safe; But the anti-abortion activists who filed the lawsuit say it is risky.
Never before has a judge annulled the medical decisions of the FDA, whose criteria for approving drugs are a benchmark worldwide.
The Biden government has appealed the Texas judge’s ruling to the Fifth District Court of Appeals, one of the most conservative in the country, but that court has not yet positioned itself.
The case has generated so much concern about the consequences it may have for the approval of other drugs that some 20 pharmaceutical companies, including giants such as Pfizer, have asked the Court of Appeals for the Fifth District to annul the Texas judge’s ruling.