The US Supreme Court has ruled unanimously to preserve access to mifepristone, the drug most commonly used in the abortion pill.
The Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine (AHM), a coalition of pro-life medical doctors, represented by Christian legal advocate Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), asked the nation’s highest court to force public health regulator the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to restore regulations that required in-person visits with medical providers to receive the drug.
The FDA had previously lifted the in-person requirement, making the pills more easily available by telehealth consultations and mail.
AHM argued that lifting the requirement for in-person medical visits put women in danger and placed an undue burden on healthcare workers who must help deal with complications from the eased restrictions.
The Supreme Court rejected that argument in its first major decision on abortion in the two years since it overturned its own Roe v. Wade ruling that had provided a nationwide guarantee of access to an abortion for 49 years.
The justices decided the plaintiffs did not have a legal right to sue because they weren’t directly impacted by the use of the drug. But they left the door open to other attempts to limit the availability of mifepristone which is one of two drugs used in a medication abortion — the most common method of terminating pregnancies in the US.
Several of the justices indicated scepticism that any of the plaintiffs had suffered harm from the availability of mifepristone which was necessary for them to have the legal standing to sue. “The plaintiffs have sincere legal, moral, ideological objections to elective abortion and to the FDA’s relaxed regulation, but they failed to demonstrate any actual injury,” wrote Justice Brett Kavanaugh for the court. “A plaintiff’s desire to make a drug less available for others does not establish standing to sue,” he added.
ADF attorney Erin Hawley who represented AHM, said the court ruled against her clients on a technicality. “They did not address the merits,” she said, observing that while the outcome of the case “is disappointing to pro-life advocates, it’s more of a setback than a defeat.”
“It is a sad day for all who value women’s health and unborn children’s lives, but the fight to stop dangerous mail-order abortion drugs is not over,” declared Katie Daniel, state policy director for Susan B Anthony Pro-Life America.
“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,” said Nancy Northup, president of the pro-choice Center for Reproductive Rights.
Since the top court overturned Roe v. Wade, effectively rescinding a federal right to abortion, 21 states have moved to restrict abortion earlier in pregnancy than the standard it had set. Seventeen of those states have barred the procedure at six weeks or earlier.
The latest ruling has no bearing on these laws with medication abortion remaining illegal in states that prohibit abortion. Abortion pills have acted as an effective workaround to the bans, with thousands of pills flowing into restrictive states through the mail.
At least three states — Missouri, Kansas and Idaho — have also opposed the FDA’s approval of the drug in court. Last week’s decision does not rule out these future challenges. Abortion is expected to be a leading issue at the ballot box during the presidential election and other key federal and state polls in November.
