The Supreme Court just upheld full access to a widely used abortion drug, mifepristone. In a 9-0 unanimous ruling issued on Thursday, the justices decided that the challengers who brought the case did not have standing, or a right to bring the lawsuit.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, appointed by former President Donald Trump, wrote the opinion.
“Under Article III of the Constitution, a plaintiff’s desire to make a drug less available for others does not establish standing to sue. Nor do the plaintiffs’ other standing theories suffice,” Kavanaugh wrote. He also added, “federal courts are the wrong forum for addressing the plaintiffs’ concerns about FDA’s actions.”
Read the Supreme Court ruling here:
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🔎 What the ruling means
If the Supreme Court would have ruled against the Food and Drug Administration, restrictions on mifepristone would have reverted back to what they were when the drug was approved in 2000.
But since the Supreme Court tossed the case, prescriptions will still be allowed during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy and the medication can still be prescribed over telehealth visits and be delivered by mail in states that allow it.
The ruling comes nearly two years after the Supreme Court overturned the federal right to an abortion established by Roe v. Wade. As a result of that historic decision, over a dozen states now have near-total abortion bans in place.
💊 What is mifepristone?
The widely used abortion drug has been used by more than 6 million people since 2000, according to the Associated Press.
Mifepristone is one of two pills in a two-step drug regimen to induce an abortion during the early stages of a pregnancy.
“Mifepristone blocks the hormone progesterone and primes the uterus to respond to the contraction-causing effect of a second drug, misoprostol,” the AP reports.
It’s also used to help with the treatment of miscarriages. Mifepristone, which is often paired with another drug called misoprostol, was approved by the FDA back in 2000.
In 2020, more than half of abortions in the U.S. (51%) were induced using medication, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
⬅️ How we got here
The Supreme Court heard two cases consolidated together back in March: FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, and Danco Laboratories v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine.
The Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine is a group of anti-abortion rights physicians and organizations who originally challenged the FDA’s 2000 approval of mifepristone, claiming the FDA didn’t study it enough and the drug isn’t safe. The case ultimately worked its way through the courts, where their challenge is now focused on actions taken by the FDA in 2016 and 2021 to make the drug more accessible.
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