Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com
Staff article
WASHINGTON, D.C.-The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday blocked in full a decision by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk out of Amarillo, Texas issued on April 7 that had invalidated the Food and Drug Administration’s longtime approval of mifepristone, the nation's most widely used abortion pill It was a win for abortion proponents and women and means women can still obtain mifepristone by mail, use it at home, and use it up to 10 weeks into a pregnancy as litigation ensues in the lower court. The generic version of the drug, made by GenBioPro, will also continue to be available pursuant to the court ruling.
"We won for now," said Women's March Cleveland head organizer Kathy Wray Coleman. "And it has certainly been a fight and will continue to be a fight until abortion is legal for all women across this land."
Two of the nine justices — conservatives Clarence Thomas, the court's only Black justice, and Samuel Alito — said they would have let part of Kacsmaryk's ruling take effect.
Kacsmaryk's trial court ruling was appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, and the justices agreed to step in after that federal appeals court, via a divided three-judge panel, put the lower court ruling on hold but kept in place several provisions of the judge's order, including restrictions on distributing the pill to patients by mail, which was a major sticking point for abortion supporters.
What Friday's ruling also means in a legal sense is that pharmacies like Walgreens that would not sell the pill for fear of litigation can do so more comfortably, at least for now. Women's advocates and community activists were already taking to the streets to fight for the survival of the abortion pill.
Led by Women's March Cleveland, protesters shut down traffic for about an hour on Chester Avenue at East 101st Street on Cleveland's east side near Walgreens on Saturday, April 15, 2023 as part of a national demonstration in cities across the country called by Women's March National to advocate for abortion rights and to call out Walgreens for refusing to sell the abortion pill. Ward 9 Councilman Kevin Conwell and state Rep Juanita Brent, also vice chair of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party, joined the protesters as did workers seeking signatures over the weekend for a potential abortion ballot initiative in Ohio. Cleveland Channel 3 News of WKYC and the Call and Post Newspaper were among the media that covered the event.
Other groups assisting with the rally include RiseUp4Abortion Rights Cleveland.
At first some motorists broke through the protest line on the busy Chester Avenue as protesters chanted "No justice, no peace," My body, my choice," and a host of other chants but ultimately drivers took another street route and Cleveland police later stepped up to guide them in another direction.
Cleveland's sister rally was from noon-2 pm at 10001 Chester Avenue at Walgreens pharmacy by design because Walgreens is under fire for refusing to sell the abortion pill in Ohio and some 19 other states where GOP officials have threatened litigation. Community activists said they were rallying for reproductive rights and against While a Washington State federal judge subsequently issued a counter ruling in support of the abortion pill, women's rights advocates say that they took to the streets last weekend to fight for reproductive and Civil Rights for women and to try to stem the tide of attacks on women's reproductive rights.
The two countering abortion pill rulings come on the heels last summer of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v Wade and relegate the authority to either restrict or outright outlaw abortion to the country's respective state legislatures, most of them Republican- dominated general assemblies.
Activist women, particularly of greater Cleveland, and Cleveland, a largely Black major American city, say that fascist judges like Kacsmaryk should keep their hands off abortion medication mIifepriston and other FDA approved reproductive medications. To date more than 14 states have criminalized abortion, including Ohio. Per its state legislature it has a six-week abortion ban that is on hold after a court ruling that is being challenged by state attorney general Dave Yost, a Republican.
Women's March Cleveland organizers say that absent major public outcry such a decision in Texas would likely be upheld by the same conservative-leaning Supreme Court that overturned Roe v Wade and that given that medication abortions make up more than half of all abortions in the country such a ban would be catastrophic. To the contrary, pro-life supporters say their cause is viable too. Nonetheless, it is clear that the fight for abortion access in America is ongoing, and contentious at best.
Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog in Ohio and in the Midwest. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.
