Abortion’s new battleground: Mifepristone’s effect on women’s mental health
At the heart of the latest battle over abortion access is a federal judge’s ruling that cites concern about the mental health of women who choose to end their pregnancies.
In revoking regulatory approval of the widely used drug mifepristone, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk said that the Food and Drug Administration failed to study the psychological effects of its use and ruled that it should be pulled from shelves while the drug agency conducts a comprehensive evaluation of the pill’s safety.
In response to his ruling, a federal appeals court late Wednesday preserved access to mifepristone, though only for up to seven weeks of pregnancy and not by mail.
“Considering the intense psychological trauma and post-traumatic stress women often experience from chemical abortion,” Kacsmaryk wrote, the FDA’s omission is bound to cause lasting damage to women who
