The U.S. Supreme Court decided Wednesday to hear a case challenging the availability of abortion pills in the United States, including in states where abortion is legal.
This would be the most significant case for access to reproductive health care since the policy was overturned. Roe vs. Wade In 2022. egg This decision has led many patients seeking abortions to turn to telehealth providers who can mail abortion pills to them. The pill is now the most common abortion method in the United States. Restricting access to medical abortion would be a major blow to reproductive health care.
“The future of telemedicine for medication abortion care is currently in jeopardy,” said Dana Northcraft, founding director of the Reproductive Health Initiative for Telemedicine Equity and Solutions. states. “Telemedicine for medication abortion is safe and effective, and helps people overcome barriers to treatment, whether traveling long distances or taking time off from work or school.”
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the case this term, meaning a decision could come in the summer of 2024, right in the middle of the US presidential election season.
The ongoing legal controversy surrounding access to mifepristone dates back to 2002, when a coalition of anti-abortion activist groups first challenged the drug’s approval in a citizen petition. (The standard two-step regimen for medication abortion, combining mifepristone and another drug, misoprostol, has been legal in the United States since 2000, when the Food and Drug Administration first approved mifepristone. ) The FDA ignored that initial objection, but a coalition of activists persisted.
In November 2022, the group will I brought a suit Texas argued that the FDA’s initial approval process was flawed because it did not properly assess safety risks. The first ruling, by Judge Matthew Kacsmalik of the Northern District of Texas, sided with the plaintiffs and invalidated the FDA’s approval. (Mr. Kaksmarik is an appointee of President Trump.) Are known for his anti-abortion views. )
In April, shortly after the original ruling, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed part of Kaczmalik, allowing mifepristone to continue on the market but voiding the ability to receive the drug by mail. Then, at the request of the Biden administration, the Supreme Court ordered a stay pending the completion of the appeals process. This gave virtual abortion clinics some time as they were forced to change the way they operated. Some clinics plan to continue offering medication abortions, with the exception of one-tablet misoprostol prescriptions.