Supreme Court to Hear Abortion Pills Case

The Supreme Court said on Wednesday it will weigh in on whether to limit access to medication abortion later this term, teeing up the biggest abortion decision from the high court since the justices overturned Roe v. Wade.

The case, which is slated for oral arguments next year, concerns a dispute over Mifepristone, the first of two medications used in a series to terminate early-stage pregnancies. In April, the Supreme Court rejected a lower court decision rolling back access to a medication used for abortions nationwide, preserving access to the pills while the case made its way through the courts. At the time, the justices determined, with two noted dissents from Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito, that the drug may remain on the market without restrictions while the merits of the case were considered by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.

The Biden administration and the drugmaker asked the Supreme Court to hear the case after the 5th Circuit blocked part of the ruling while allowing other restrictions on the medication to remain, arguing that the plaintiffs don’t have standing in the case. In its order, the Supreme Court indicated that it will review the recent changes to the availability of the abortion pills but not its original approval.

Mifepristone has been FDA-approved since 2000. But the agency has taken steps in recent years to expand access to the pill, like extending the medication’s usage from seven weeks of pregnancy to 10 and doing away with in-person dispensing requirements. Those more recent policies have helped the medication to become the most commonly used method of abortion in recent years.

The decision to hear the case sets up the first major abortion clash at the high court since the conservative supermajority last year voted to overturn Roe v. Wade – the landmark ruling establishing a right to an abortion – when the justices argued that the issue should be left up to the states.

The dispute began earlier this year when a federal judge in Texas, Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump-appointee known for his conservative views, determined that the decades-old Food and Drug Administration approval of the abortion medication should be put on hold, siding with anti-abortion groups that argued the agency violated federal rules allowing accelerated approval of certain medications and approved the medication while they say the approval ignored health risks to women.