Two federal judges issued a pair of conflicting rulings on Friday, creating uncertainty for future access to abortion pills.
周五, 两名联邦法官发布了两项相互矛盾的裁决,为未来获取堕胎药带来了不确定性。
A federal appeals court is expected to weigh in soon, possibly within days.
预计联邦上诉法院很快就会介入,可能就在几天内。
Meanwhile, providers and patients are trying to prepare for whatever comes next.
与此同时,供药者与患者都在努力为接下来发生的事情做准备。
NPR's Sarah McCammon joins us now to talk about this.
NPR新闻的莎拉·麦卡蒙将加入节目谈论此事。
Sarah, so what's this mean for someone who wants access to abortion pills right now?
莎拉,这对那些现在就想要堕胎药的人来说意味着什么?
Well, at the moment, nothing, but the impact is likely to become a lot clearer very soon, maybe this week.
嗯,目前没有任何影响,但可能很快就会清楚这一影响,可能就在这周。
What happened first on Friday was that a federal judge in Texas issued a ruling ordering the Food and Drug Administration to suspend its approval of the abortion pill mifepristone nationwide.
首先,在周五,德克萨斯州的一名联邦法官发布了一项裁决,命令食品和药物管理局在全国范围内暂停批准堕胎药米非司酮。
That's scheduled to go into effect this coming Friday.
该法案将于本周五生效。
David Donatti is an attorney with the ACLU of Texas, and he says the judge didn't give a lot of detail about what that means.
大卫·多纳蒂是德克萨斯州美国公民自由联盟(ACLU)的一名律师,他表示法官并没有详细说明这意味着什么。
So, for example, if medication is already in pharmacies and has already been prescribed, can those prescriptions be filled?
比方说,如果堕胎药已经在药房里了,且药方已经开好了,那么可以抓药吗?
These are questions that the lowest court order just does not answer.
这些都是低级法院指令无法回答的问题。
But an appeals court could answer that question, and the Justice Department has appealed to the Fifth Circuit.
但上诉法院可以回答这个问题,司法部已经向第五巡回法院上诉。
We may hear from them this week. But if we don't, the judge's order would take effect.
我们可能会在本周听到相关消息。但如果没有回复,法官的命令就会生效。
And then I mentioned earlier that other abortion pill case in play. That's a decision from a federal judge in Washington state. How does that factor into this?
我在节目前期提到了堕胎药的另一起案子。那是一名华盛顿州联邦法官做出的裁决。那起案子又是如何影响这起案子的呢?
Right. Eighteen Democratic attorneys general sued the FDA to try to protect access to mifepristone.
对。18名民主党总检察长起诉食品和药物管理局,试图保护获取米非司酮的权力。
The federal judge in that case ruled also on Friday that, yes, the FDA should preserve access.
联邦法官也在周五对这起案子做出裁决,是的,食品和药物管理局应该保留获取权限。
His decision may offer at least some protection for access for people in those 17 states and the District of Columbia.
这位法官的裁决至少可以为这17个州的人们以及哥伦比亚特区的人们提供一些保护。
But ultimately, this case probably ends up at the Supreme Court.
但最终,这个案子可能会在最高法院结束裁决。
And that, by the way, is where anti-abortion rights groups tell me they want it to go.
顺便提一下,反堕胎权利组织告诉我,他们希望案子可以到最高法院。
They want to see this resolved at a national level.
他们希望看到国家层面解决这个案子。
And they're optimistic that the high court will agree with the judge in Texas.
他们乐观地认为,最高法院会同意德克萨斯州法官的意见。
And abortion providers have got to be wondering what to do after these decisions. I mean, what are you hearing from them?
堕胎药提供者在这些裁决后一定在琢磨怎么做。我是说,你从他们那里打听到什么消息吗?
They're talking to their lawyers. They're preparing for multiple possible scenarios.
他们在跟他们的律师讨论。他们正在为多种可能的情况做准备。
And, you know, they've been doing that for months, really, since anti-abortion groups filed the lawsuit in Texas last year.
自从反堕胎组织去年在德克萨斯州提起诉讼以来,他们已经这样做了好几个月了。
The guidance these providers get could be different depending on where they are, whether they're in one of those states that was part of that Washington case I mentioned.
这些堕胎药提供者得到的指导可能会因他们的所在地而不同,无论他们是否在我提到的华盛顿案例中的某个州。
Melissa Grant is CEO of carafem, which provides abortion pills at three clinics and through telehealth.
梅丽莎·格兰特是carafem公司的首席执行官,该公司通过远程医疗为三家诊所提供堕胎药。
Over the weekend, she told me they're looking really closely at what might still be legal after that seven-day waiting period is up.
上周末,她告诉我,他们正在仔细研究7天等待结束后仍然合法的事情。