WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The ratio of abortions carried out with medication rose to 63 percent between 2020 and 2023 in the United States, according to analysis published ahead of a Supreme Court hearing on restricting access to the pills.

The research made public Tuesday by the Guttmacher Institute, which campaigns for abortion rights, said that medication accounted for 63 percent of all US abortions last year — an increase from 53 percent in 2020.

The use of medication — rather than surgical procedures — to terminate pregnancy has risen steadily since the Food and Drug Administration approved the abortion drug mifepristone in the United States in 2000, the Guttmacher Institute said.

Next week, the Supreme Court will hear arguments to reduce access to mifepristone, which is one of the most common types of abortion medication and can be obtained by patients via mail.