Mifepristone, which is sold both under the brand name Mifeprex and as a generic drug, is commonly used with one other drug during medication abortions. The stakes of the case were made clear last week when new data showed more than 60 percent of all abortions last year were done through medication.
Flashback: The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on the case of "Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine et al. v. Food and Drug Administration et al." in August, keeping the FDA's approval of mifepristone in place but rolling back prior actions by the agency to expand access to the drug.
The Biden administration appealed to the Supreme Court.
The FDA made a series of changes in 2016, 2021 and 2023 that included increasing the gestational age at which mifepristone can be used to up to 10 weeks of pregnancy, allowing the medication to be mailed to patients, lowering the dosage, allowing telehealth prescribing and permitting providers other than physicians to prescribe the drug.
The plaintiffs in the case — a group of anti-abortion doctors and medical associations represented by the Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom — want the justices to roll back those changes.
They initially wanted the justices to invalidate the entire FDA approval of the drug, but the court earlier decided the statute of limitations had passed, so the focus is now on accessibility.
The Biden administration and the maker of Mifeprex argue the plaintiffs don't have standing to sue, since they haven't actually been harmed by any of the changes. They would like the justices to rule on standing, without even getting to the merits of the case.
If the court rules against the FDA, the impact would be felt nationwide, even in states that have expanded access to abortion. Experts have said it could upend the entire drug approval process and make abortion medication out of reach of the people who need it most.
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