WASHINGTON — A blow to anti-abortion advocates Supreme Court On Thursday, the abortion pill rejected a challenge to mifepristone, meaning the commonly used drug could be widely used.
Court found unanimously An anti-abortion doctors’ group that has questioned Food and Drug Administration decisions making the pill easier to obtain has said it lacks the legal standing to sue.
Writing for the court, Judge Brett Kavanaugh wrote that while the plaintiffs have “sincere legal, moral, ideological and political objections to elective abortion and the FDA’s relaxed regulation of mifepristone,” that does not mean they have a federal case.
The plaintiffs failed to show that they suffered any injuries, meaning “the federal courts are the wrong forum to address the plaintiffs’ concerns about the FDA’s actions,” he said.
“Plaintiffs may present their concerns and objections to the president and FDA in the regulatory process or to Congress and the president in the legislative process,” Kavanaugh wrote. “And they can express their views on abortion and mifepristone to their fellow citizens, including in political and electoral processes.”
The legal challenge was brought by doctors and other medical professionals represented by the conservative Christian rights group Alliance Defending Freedom.
“We are disappointed that the Supreme Court did not get to the heart of the FDA’s illegal repeal of common-sense safety standards for abortion drugs,” said Erin Hawley, one of the group’s lawyers. He told reporters that he hoped the main lawsuit would go ahead because three states — Idaho, Missouri and Kansas — filed their own lawsuits and had different arguments to stand on.
By dismissing the case on those grounds, the court avoided ruling on the legal merits of the FDA’s various restrictions, including whether it acted legally to obtain the drug through the mail, meaning the same issues could still come back to court. another case.
Another regulatory decision that remains in place means women can still take the pill at 10 weeks instead of seven weeks into pregnancy.
Likewise, the decision allowing medical professionals other than doctors to dispense the pill will remain in effect.
The ruling followed the court’s 6-3 conservative majority in Roe v. It comes two years after Wade overturned a landmark abortion rights decision.
The court later suggested it was distancing itself from the political debate over abortion, but with ongoing litigation over access to abortion, justices continue to play a central role.
Abortion rights advocates welcomed the decision, with Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, saying she was relieved by the outcome but angry that the case had taken so long in the court system.
“Thankfully, the Supreme Court rejected this baseless attempt to limit access to medication abortion, but the fact is that this baseless case should never have gotten this far,” he said.
Danco Laboratories, maker of Mifeprex, the brand-name version of mifepristone, also praised the decision, saying it was good for the drug’s approval process.
Company spokeswoman Abigail Long said the court rejected the challenge, “upholding the stability of the FDA’s drug approval process, which relies on the agency’s expertise and is trusted by patients, healthcare providers and the US pharmaceutical industry.”
Anti-abortion groups expressed disappointment and said the decision underscored the importance of this year’s election, when Democratic President Joe Biden, who has vowed to defend abortion rights, will face Republican Donald Trump, who has strong support from anti-abortion conservatives. .
“Joe Biden and the Democrats are trying to force abortions in every state in the country for any reason, including DIY mail-order abortions,” said Marjorie Dannenfeiser, president of SBA Pro-Life America.
If Trump were to win the election, his FDA appointees would be in a position to impose new restrictions on mifepristone.
The mifepristone controversy is not the only abortion case currently in court. This is also about making a decision Strict abortion ban in Idaho prevents doctors in emergency rooms from performing abortions when a pregnant woman experiences dangerous complications.
Mifepristone is currently used as part of an FDA-approved two-drug regimen that is the most common form of abortion in the United States.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights, 14 states have outlawed abortion.
The FDA had the support of the pharmaceutical industry, which warned that any second-guessing of the approval process by untrained federal judges could be a challenge. it causes chaos and prevents innovation.
Last year, Texas-based U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk issued a sweeping ruling that completely invalidated the FDA’s approval of the pill, prompting panic among abortion rights activists that it would be banned nationwide.
In April last year, the Supreme Court stayed the decision, meaning the pill was widely available while litigation continued.
In August, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans later narrowed Kacsmaryk’s decision, but held that the FDA’s move to lift the restrictions beginning in 2016 was unlawful.
Both parties appealed to the Supreme Court. In December, the court accepted an appeal by the Biden administration to defend subsequent FDA decisions, but declined to hear a challenge to the original approval of mifepristone in 2000.
The Supreme Court focused only on subsequent FDA action, including the initial 2021 decision finalized last year to make the drug available by mail order.