FDA Removes Restrictions on Abortion Pill If Roe is Terminated

WASHINGTON - Dec. 16, 2021 - PRLog -- The FDA has ended a restriction on a medication used to terminate early-stage pregnancies which in the past had required women to pick up the pills in person.

While many might see this as an effective end run should the Supreme Court overrule Roe v. Wade, and hold that women do not have a constitutional privacy right to an abortion, both potential criminal and civil liability - including even law suits by fathers - could prevent many pregnant women from exercising this option, says public interest law professor John Banzhaf.

Under the ruling, women will be able to obtain the pills through the mail once prescribed by telehealth consultants, but many states already ban sending the drug through the mail and/or impose other restrictions on its use - tactics likely to spread if the protections of Roe are terminated.

If such laws are violated, and perhaps even if no such laws exist, it might be possible - in addition to any governmental action - for the fathers to take legal action to prevent abortions by pill, or to seek damages after an abortion occurs.

The law professor notes, for example, that Tennessee is considering legislation that would grant fathers veto power over abortions; that courts have approved the appointment of guardians to represent the rights of a fetus, and that in some situations attorneys have been able to argue on behalf of animals and even trees.

Banzhaf, who have won over 100 legal actions for women who have been discriminated against because of gender, and helped clarify and improve the warnings on conventional birth control pills, says that the  decision is far from a slam dunk for the rights of women who might want to terminate their pregnancies.

JOHN F. BANZHAF III, B.S.E.E., J.D., Sc.D.
Professor of Public Interest Law
George Washington University Law School
"The Man Behind the Ban on Cigarette Commercials"
FAMRI Dr. William Cahan Distinguished Professor
Fellow, World Technology Network
Founder, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
Inventor of the "Banzhaf Index"
2000 H Street, NW, Suite Stockton 402
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