A move to severely restrict access to the abortion medication mifepristone was unanimously rejected by the US Supreme Court.
Two years after the court struck down the right to an abortion as a national guarantee, the ruling represents a significant victory for pro-choice advocates.
The plaintiffs were a group of doctors and activists who opposed abortion, and the justices ruled that they lacked standing to file a lawsuit.
One of the two medications used in a medication abortion—which is currently the most popular way to end pregnancies in the US—is mifepristone.
The Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, the plaintiffs, had contended that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ought to revoke the drug’s approval.
However, several of the court’s seven justices appeared doubtful during the case’s March arguments that any of the plaintiffs had suffered harm as a result of mifepristone’s availability, which is required in order to have the legal standing to suit.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote for the court:
“The plaintiffs have sincere legal, moral, and ideological objections to elective abortion and to FDA’s relaxed regulation, but they failed to demonstrate” any real harm.
“Additionally, he noted, “A plaintiff’s wish to restrict the availability of a drug for others does not establish standing to sue.”
In June 2022, the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade, thereby eliminating the federal right to an abortion.
Since then, abortion rights have been restricted in 21 states, surpassing the threshold it established. Out of those, seventeen have declined the treatment at six weeks or less.
The decision on Thursday has no effect on these laws; in areas where abortion is prohibited, medical abortion is still prohibited.
Thousands of abortion pills, however, are being mailed into states with restrictions as a practical workaround to these prohibitions.
Although pro-choice advocates applauded the Supreme Court’s ruling as a partial win, they cautioned that access to abortion drugs would remain.
The FDA’s clearance of the medication has also faced opposition from at least three states: Missouri, Kansas, and Idaho.
These upcoming challenges are not excluded by the Supreme Court’s ruling on Thursday.
According to a statement by Nancy Northup, head of the pro-choice Center for Reproductive Rights, “this ruling is not a ‘win’ for abortion, it just maintains the status quo.”
“The attacks on abortion pills will not stop here – the anti-abortion movement sees how critical abortion pills are in this post-Roe world.”
The judgment was criticized by anti-abortion groups. However, these factions also suggested that the conflict would persist.
“It is a sad day for all who value the health of women and the lives of unborn children,” stated Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America’s state policy director, Katie Daniel.
“But the fight to stop dangerous mail-order abortion drugs is not over.”
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the use of the two-drug combination in 2000 for usage up to 10 weeks of pregnancy.
Misoprostol is given to the patient to empty the uterus after mifepristone is used to induce an abortion.
Since 2016, the FDA has made the medication easier to obtain, let doctors to see patients virtually, and authorized prescriptions to be issued by mail. In this instance, the more recent approvals were in doubt.
As per the Guttmacher Institute, pharmaceutical abortions account for about two thirds of all abortions performed in the United States today.
Both misoprostol and mifepristone are safe to use, according to the FDA, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists (ACOG), and other major medical organizations, after 20 years of use.
According to US research, medication abortion is approximately 95% successful in terminating a pregnancy and only needs additional medical monitoring less than 1% of the time.