The U.S. Supreme Court announced on Wednesday that it would consider and could rule on the case that would limit access to the commonly used abortion drug Mifepristone by July.
Mifepristone is used alongside Misoprostol, a partner drug, in a two-step regimen to induce the termination of a pregnancy chemically. They are used in succession or Misoprostol can be used alone for a medical abortion.
Political experts and reproductive rights advocates say that this will be the most significant decision in the ongoing abortion debate since the court decided to overturn Roe. V. Wade last year. The ruling could have substantial ramifications on reproductive care reflective of the swift action taken after the Dobbs decision, which led more than half of the states to ban or place strict limitations on the procedure.
According to the justices, Mifepristone remains legally available without any of the restrictions the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals introduced earlier this April. This comes after the Biden Administration and Danco Laboratories, a manufacturer of Mifepristone, asked for the Supreme Court to intervene after the lower court introduced limitations on the drug.
If these restrictions were enforced, it would be illegal to take Mifepristone after the seventh week of pregnancy, send the drug by mail or distribute it without visits to a physician. The high court struck down these proposed limitations, declaring access to Mifepristone would remain the same while the case played out in the courts.
The initial challenge to Mifepristone that spurred the ongoing legal battle was brought forth by the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, a group of medical professionals who share anti-abortion views.
They filed a lawsuit in Amarillo where Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk is the sole sitting district judge, claiming that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration did not adequately review the safety risks when approving Mifepristone in 2000 nor when restrictions were loosened on the use of the drug later starting in 2016.
Kacsmaryk ruled to suspend the FDA approval of Mifepristone. The case then went to the Fifth Circuit, where the court ruled against the district judge’s decision but agreed with the portion of Kacsmaryk’s ruling that would block the changes made to the drug’s later usage in pregnancy and the way it was distributed and prescribed.
The justices included in their announcement on Wednesday that they would not take up a separate request regarding the FDA’s approval of Mifepristone.
Planned Parenthood Federation of America President and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson released this statement:
“We are pleased the Supreme Court has decided to hear this case, and it should reverse the extreme decisions of the lower courts. The faces are clear: mifepristone is safe and effective. This case has put the approval of mifepristone – and every other FDA-approved medication – at risk nationwide for political reasons, and has caused confusion for patients across the country.”
Senior counsel and vice president of the Center for Life and Regulatory Practice Erin Hawley of The Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal organization, released this statement:
“Every court so far has agreed that the FDA acted unlawfully in removing common-sense safeguards for women and authorizing dangerous mail-order abortions. We urge the Supreme Court to do the same. The FDA has harmed the health of women and undermined the rule of law by illegally removing every meaningful safeguard from the chemical abortion drug regimen. Like any federal agency, the FDA must rationally explain its decisions. Yet its removal of common-sense safeguards – like a doctor’s visit before women are prescribed chemical abortion drugs – does not reflect scientific judgment but rather a politically driven decision to push a dangerous drug regimen.”
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
