United States: Wyoming bans the abortion pill, a first in an American state

Wyoming on Friday became the first US state to ban the abortion pill, which is a new victory for conservatives who intend to roll back access to abortion in the United States.

For the first time, an American state has decided to ban the abortion pill. This is Wyoming. Moreover, its governor, Mark Gordon, has called on legislators to go further and include a total ban on abortion in the constitution of this state and submit it to the vote of voters.

Friday evening, Mark Gordon declared at the announcement of this decision: “I believe that all life is sacred and that each individual, including unborn children, must be treated with dignity and compassion”.

This decision comes at a time when many opponents of abortion are seeking to ban the abortion pill throughout the United States. And this, one year after the decision of the Supreme Court to bury the right to abortion at the federal level. Since then, fifteen states have decided to ban all pregnancy terminations on their soil.

Texas could also ban it

Another decision on this subject is also expected soon in the court of Amarillo in Texas where an ultraconservative federal judge must render a decision on a possible federal ban on mifepristone (RU 486).

This pill, the most widely used for medical termination of pregnancy, was authorized in 2000 by the American Medicines Agency (FDA). Texas federal judge Matthew Kacsmaryk could order it to be taken off the market nationwide. Texas lawmakers are also considering a proposal that would not only ban abortion pills, but also require state internet providers to block access to sites where these pills are sold by mail order.

Since the Supreme Court of the United States in June last year returned its freedom to legislate to each state, about fifteen of them have limited access to mifepristone by requiring that a doctor provide it, according to the Guttmacher Institute research center which defends the right of women to have an abortion. If the Texas federal judge rules for a nationwide ban on the abortion pill, abortion rights groups say it will have as big an impact as last year’s Supreme Court ruling.