The Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously rejected an attempt to restrict access to the abortion pill mifepristone in its first major ruling on the issue since it overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in the opinion that the anti-abortion doctors who brought the challenge lacked standing. This means that for now, abortion pills will remain widely available for people who need them and will not be subject to medically unnecessary restrictions.
Last year, medication abortions made up about 63 percent of clinician-provided abortions, according to a recent report. The availability of the drugs has also led to an increase in self-managed abortions taking place outside the formal health-care system as more states continue to ban or heavily restrict the procedure in the wake of Dobbs.
This has made abortion opponents and supporters deeply invested in whether people can access the medications. Last month, for example, Louisiana passed a first-in-the-nation bill to reclassify both mifepristone and the second drug in the medication-abortion regimen, misoprostol, as “controlled dangerous substances,” despite widespread opposition from medical providers who say the measure will have far-reaching implications for pregnancy care beyond abortion.
The legal challenge to mifepristone first focused on the FDA’s approval of the drug, which has been in place since 2000. However, the Court took up only the narrow question of addressing whether to reinstate restrictions on the drug’s use that predate 2016, which experts have said are medically unnecessary.
Despite the Court’s decision, the fight over abortion pills is far from over. In November 2023, almost a full year after the original lawsuit was filed, three Republican attorneys general — Andrew Bailey of Missouri, Kris Kobach of Kansas, and Raúl Labrador of Idaho — filed a motion asking to join the legal challenge. The three conservatives argued that the FDA’s approval of mifepristone has injured their states, claiming that the states are burdened by several issues such as how “shield laws,” which allow health providers to mail abortion pills to patients across the country, hamper their ability to enforce their respective abortion bans. Though the Supreme Court didn’t allow the attorneys general to join the challenge at the time, the three states could now attempt to revive the litigation.
And if Donald Trump wins the presidential election in November, he could direct the FDA to reimpose restrictions on mifepristone or ask the Department of Justice to enforce the Comstock Act, an 1873 law that could ban medication and tools used in abortion, effectively ending access to the procedure nationwide.
The Cut offers an online tool that allows you to search by Zip Code for professional providers, including clinics, hospitals, and independent OB/GYNs, as well as abortion funds, transportation options, and information for remote resources like receiving the abortion pill by mail. For legal guidance, contact Repro Legal Helpline at 844-868-2812 or the Abortion Defense Network.
