I’m Pro-Life. I Worry That the Abortion-Pill Ruling Could Backfire.
Pro-life activists across the country are celebrating the decision by a federal district-court judge in Texas to force mifepristone, a drug used in self-induced abortions, off the market. This response makes sense: If, as pro-lifers like myself believe, the embryo developing in a mother’s womb is a human life, it is therefore worthy of both legal protection and social support. Steps that make it harder for women to have an abortion are welcome.
The drug’s ultimate legal status is uncertain. The Texas ruling would go into effect after a seven-day window, allowing the federal government to appeal or seek an emergency stay from a higher court (minutes after the Texas ruling, a federal judge in Washington State issued a ruling prohibiting the FDA from pulling the drug from the market, increasing the odds that the matter makes it way to the Supreme Court).
No matter how the case ends up, this victory for the pro-life movement may prove precarious. Forcing mifepristone
