The Supreme Court Rejects The Case Challenging Access To The Abortion Drug Mifepristone, But Reproductive Care Is Still On The Chopping Block.
Washington, D.C. — In a major decision, the Supreme Court rejected a challenge to abortion medication drug mifepristone in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine and Danco v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, holding that the plaintiffs lack standing. This ruling is a relief for millions of Americans trying to access abortion care after the same court took away the constitutional right to abortion just two years ago.
The case was brought by a group of anti-abortion activists, represented by a far-right organization, hoping to achieve a national abortion ban. Mifepristone is a safe and effective medication that has been FDA-approved for 24 years and is the most common medication abortion regimen offered, accounting for more than 60 percent of all abortions in the United States.
This case’s potential repercussions went far beyond abortion care — it would open the door for the politically motivated removal of other safe and effective drugs from the market, throwing the entire U.S. drug approval process into chaos. For now, the Supreme Court’s decision protects access to mifepristone and the FDA’s drug approval process.
The Supreme Court still has a case in front of them awaiting a decision, Idaho and Moyle, et al. v. United States, that challenges the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act and threatens to jail doctors for providing critical care to save pregnant patients. This case, brought by extreme right-wing politicians, seeks to deny pregnant patients who are experiencing a medical crisis the emergency abortion care they may need to prevent serious health consequences, including death.
In response, Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach issued the following statement:
“This is the right and obvious decision by the Supreme Court, but the threat to reproductive care remains. This case was a deliberate attack by MAGA extremists to deny people the freedom to make their own health care choices, attempting to undermine decades of research and the FDA’s scientific judgment. While the court made the correct decision, abortion rights, and other reproductive health care services remain on the chopping block. Red states are still in the courts right now trying again to ban mifepristone and take away a woman’s right to choose. The court will make a decision on whether doctors can go to jail for providing pregnant patients with necessary emergency medical care.
“The MAGA agenda is clear. This decision comes as Republicans in Congress are working to ban IVF, further restrict abortion care, and hike health care costs. The MAGA Republican ‘Project 2025’ blueprint calls for pulling mifepristone off the market entirely. Patients and families deserve access to medication and treatment without political and judicial interference.”