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France 24

Health

Lara BULLENS

The long and winding history of the war on abortion drugs

Abortion United States France FRANCE 24 Cain Matthew Kacsmaryk Thomas O Rice Texas

French inventor of mifepristone Etienne-Emile Baulieu poses in his lab at the Bicêtre Hospital in Paris the year the pill was approved, in 1988. © Pierre Guillaud, AFP

Along with the stethoscope and camembert cheese, mifepristone may be one of France’s greatest inventions. It’s one of two drugs taken for medical abortions, along with misoprostol, and has been making headlines in the US, where a Texas judge issued a ruling to ban it nationwide. FRANCE 24 takes a look at the history of these two drugs.

Two separate rulings filed one after another in quick succession on April 7 had US abortion providers holding their breath. The first, issued by Trump-appointed federal judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, ordered a hold on mifepristone, one of two drugs taken for medical abortions. The second, issued by Obama-appointed federal judge Thomas O. Rice, came less than an hour later. His ruling ordered the exact opposite.

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