Supreme Court Upholds Access to Abortion Pill, Preserving Millions of Women’s Right to Choose

The U.S. Supreme Court has granted a request from the Justice Department to leave in place the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of a widely used abortion pill, preserving access to the drug and reinstating a number of steps by the agency that made it easier to obtain. This decision comes in the most significant case involving abortion since the court overturned Roe v. Wade less than one year ago, a ruling that threw the legal landscape into chaos and led to near-total bans on abortion in more than 12 states.

The Supreme Court’s decision came after U.S. District Judge Matthew Kaczmaryk’s April 7 decision in Texas voided the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone to be used as an abortion treatment in 2000, effectively withdrawing it from the market. In a 7-2 vote, the court stayed the decision by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit that limited access to mifepristone while the entire appeals court considered the case.

The abortion drug mifepristone, also known as RU-486, is a two-pill regimen that can be used to terminate a pregnancy within the first 10 weeks. It has been used by millions of women since it was approved by the FDA in 2000. The FDA had also relaxed the restrictions on the drug in 2016, allowing it to be dispensed at pharmacies and allowing women to take the second pill at home.

The Supreme Court’s decision to stay the lower court’s ruling will ensure that mifepristone remains widely available for women seeking to terminate a pregnancy. The court’s decision is a victory for abortion rights advocates, who have argued that the restrictions on the drug were medically unnecessary and would have made it more difficult for women to access the drug. The case is expected to be heard by the full 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in the coming months.