SW News: People from both sides of the abortion debate are eagerly awaiting the outcome of a lawsuit that could compel the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to remove chemical abortion pills from the American market.

Almost half of the abortions performed in the United States involve the use of two drugs that women can take at home: mifepristone and misoprostol. Nevertheless, a lawsuit brought by a Texas anti-abortion group alleging that the FDA improperly approved the use of mifepristone more than 23 years ago might swiftly change that.

Former President Donald Trump-appointed federal judge is hearing the lawsuit in Texas. If the anti-abortion side wins, the drug's sales might be stopped at once, but women would still be able to get misoprostol-based medical abortions.

This case arose after the FDA decided to widen access to the two-part medication regimen, which permits doctors to write prescriptions for it via telehealth sessions so that women can get the abortion-inducing tablets by mail.

The Texas complaint asserts that the first of the two medications used to induce abortion, mifepristone, is not as safe as claimed and that the FDA should not have granted its approval in 2000. Studies reveal that one in twenty women have a complication from chemical abortions.

The Alliance for Defending Freedom, which was also involved in the Mississippi case that resulted in Roe v. Wade being reversed, brought the action against mifepristone.

To continue offering medication abortions using just misoprostol, clinics, and telemedicine providers have been ordering more doses of the pill in anticipation of a decision that would restrict access to mifepristone. Clinicians will need to alter the way they counsel patients, informing them that abortions performed only with misoprostol have a marginally lower success rate and occasionally more discomfort than those performed with both medications.

The Democrats have been dealing with the fight over reproductive care since the Supreme Court invalidated the constitutional right to abortion last year. This is the latest consequence of that decision.