The U.S. Supreme Court Friday put on hold a lower court ruling that would have essentially revoked access to the abortion pill Mifepristone. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented in the 7-2 vote.
The case will now go back to the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals – which had ruled that Mifepristone could stay available to the public but altered future usage of the drug by placing past restrictions on it; not permitting the medication after 7 weeks of pregnancy and making it unavailable to be delivered by mail. Oral arguments there are scheduled for May 17.
This decision will allow the medication to maintain the Food and Drug Administration’s long-standing approval and remain on the market with the measures the FDA placed to make it more accessible – allowing women to use it until 10 weeks into their pregnancy and obtain it via the mail.
Debates about the approval, use and availability of the abortion-inducing drug started about two weeks ago, after U.S. District Judge Matthew J Kacsmaryk of Texas suspended the FDA approval of Mifepristone. Plaintiffs on the case had called into question the safety-testing process of the medication and requested this approval to be reversed.
Friday’s ruling comes after two temporary holds issued by Justice Samuel Alito on the case as it moved through the 5th Circuit to the Supreme Court.
Although the ruling preserves the availability and access to Mifepristone for now, the Court will see how appeals play out in the coming months. In all likelihood, the case will return to the Supreme Court.
Rachel O’Leary Carmona, the executive director of Women’s March issued the following statement in reaction to the Supreme Court’s decision Friday:
“This stay, while a relief, is the bare minimum. The imminent threat to access to mifepristone and abortion care remains.
“Make no mistake, the Supreme Court’s decision to stay a ban on mifepristone was not a decision made on the merits of the case. There is no question that Judge Kacsmaryk acted politically, and without legal authority to issue a ruling challenging the FDA’s authorization and the national availability of mifepristone – a drug proven safe and effective for more than two decades.
“The Supreme Court acted out of self preservation, and out of a desire to not seem as nakedly political as Matthew Kacsmaryk.
“Senator Mitch McConnell and his Republican allies hijacked our courts and now a majority of the justices on the Supreme Court are partisan extremists, put on the bench to solely enact an anti-woman agenda.
“The Supreme Court chose to stay this decision because they know that enacting any restrictions on mifepristone would be widely unpopular and prove to the American people that the Supreme Court is broken, lacking legitimacy.“This is a moment of relief. A moment. But make no mistake, they are coming for our rights. And we will defend them.
Dr. Abbasi Hoskins, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and Dr. Mauren G. Phipp, CEO of the organization issued the following joint statement:
“ACOG is grateful that the Supreme Court listened to the medical experts and has maintained access to safe, effective mifepristone. Even though mifepristone has remained available over the past several weeks, the ongoing judicial attacks have led to widespread chaos and confusion, with clinicians uncertain as to whether and where they could prescribe the medication for abortion and miscarriage management. Moreover, the inflammatory, biased language that pervaded the lower court decision instilled fear and falsehoods about medication abortion, the impact on patients, and the clinicians who provide compassionate abortion care.
“Although the Supreme Court has kept mifepristone available to patients for the duration of this legal battle, much of the damage of this process remains in place – and we know that the attacks on abortion care will not stop, no matter how many times medical professionals declare that abortion is essential, evidence-based health care and that interference in the patient-physician relationship must stop. We will continue to lead the medical community in providing the clear, strong evidence about mifepristone so that the Supreme Court can make the right decision in the end. ACOG remains steadfastly in opposition to interference in the patient-physician relationship.”
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
