By In a significant ruling on Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a challenge to the abortion pill mifepristone, ensuring that the commonly used drug will remain widely available. The court unanimously found that the group of anti-abortion doctors who questioned the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) decisions to make the pill more accessible did not have legal standing to sue, resulting in the dismissal of the lawsuit.
By deciding the case on the grounds of legal standing, the court avoided deciding on the legal merits of whether the FDA acted lawfully in lifting various restrictions, including allowing the drug to be obtained via mail. This means that the same issues could potentially return to the court in another case in the future.
The ruling also leaves in place other regulatory decisions, such as allowing women to obtain the pill within 10 weeks of gestation instead of seven and permitting healthcare providers other than physicians to dispense the pill.
This decision comes two years after the Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, overturned the landmark abortion rights decision Roe v. Wade, triggering a wave of new abortion restrictions in conservative states. At the time, the court suggested it was removing itself from the political debate over abortion, but with ongoing litigation over abortion access, the justices continue to play a pivotal role.
The mifepristone dispute is not the only abortion case currently before the court. The justices are also set to decide whether Idaho’s strict abortion ban prevents doctors in emergency rooms from performing abortions when a pregnant woman is facing dangerous complications.
Mifepristone is used as part of a two-drug FDA-approved regimen that is now the most common form of abortion in the United States. According to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that backs abortion rights, abortion is effectively banned altogether in 14 states.
The FDA had the support of the pharmaceutical industry, which warned that any second-guessing of the approval process by untrained federal judges could lead to chaos and deter innovation. The legal challenge was brought by doctors and other medical professionals represented by the conservative Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom.
Last year, Texas-based U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk issued a sweeping ruling that completely invalidated the FDA’s approval of the pill, causing panic among abortion-rights activists who feared it would be banned nationwide. The Supreme Court put that ruling on hold last April, allowing the pill to remain widely available while litigation continued.
The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later narrowed Kacsmaryk’s decision in August but upheld his conclusion that the FDA’s move to lift restrictions starting in 2016 was unlawful. Both sides appealed to the Supreme Court, which focused solely on the later FDA actions, including the initial 2021 decision that made the drug available by mail, which was finalized last year.
The Supreme Court’s decision to reject the challenge to mifepristone is a significant victory for abortion rights advocates and ensures that the abortion pill will remain widely accessible across the United States.
