Despite Justice Samuel Alito’s insistence that the overturning of Roe v. Wade would remove the need for the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on abortion issues, another case concerning abortion access is before the court.
Justices will hear arguments today in a case concerning the common abortion-inducing drug mifepristone.
What is mifepristone? Mifepristone is commonly used in tandem with misoprostol to terminate a pregnancy up to 10 weeks. Patients can take the mifepristone alone, but the two-drug regimen has been shown to be more effective.
What’s the law around medication abortion? It is illegal to mail abortion-inducing medication in Texas. However, international providers and out-of-state groups have found ways to get the pills to people.
How did this case come about? In November 2022, the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, an organization of doctors against abortion, filed a lawsuit accusing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration of not properly vetting the safety of mifepristone. The FDA, along with the laboratory that produces the drug, has argued that there’s overwhelming evidence that shows the safety and efficacy of mifepristone. They also argue the alliance has no legal standing to bring the case since its members are not impacted by the drug’s approval.
In recent years, the FDA has permanently lifted the in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone, allowing it to be prescribed via telehealth appointments, dispensed at retail pharmacies and sent via mail.
How did lower courts rule? U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk sided with anti-abortion groups seeking to take the drug off the market. In his ruling, Kacsmaryk described abortion as “starv[ing] the unborn human until death.” The ruling would’ve taken the drug off the market, but the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals intervened, allowing it to stay on the market but undoing some newer regulations. The U.S. Supreme Court then froze changes to the drug’s legal status until it heard the case.
