Case will determine future of mifepristone in first major abortion issue to reach country’s highest court since it overturned Roe
The US supreme court on Wednesday agreed to hear oral arguments in a case that could determine the future of a pill used in most abortions in the US, in the first major abortion rights case to land at the country’s highest court since the justices overturned Roe v Wade and abolished the national right to the procedure in 2022.
A decision in the case will probably arrive in summer 2024, just months before the presidential election. The outcome of the case could affect not just access to the pill, which has been repeatedly deemed safe and effective, but the Federal Drug Administration’s authority to regulate all manner of medications.
The drug at the heart of the case is mifepristone, one of the two drugs typically used in medication abortions, which make up the majority of US abortions. Last year, an association of anti-abortion organizations and doctors, the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, filed a federal lawsuit arguing that the FDA had overstepped its authority when it approved mifepristone in 2000.
This could be really bad considering the current makeup of the court, but it is good they took up the case. The current ruling on this is abhorrent and really needs to be overturned. Abortion access opponents were fighting this appeal. It was the federal government/Biden admin who wanted this appealed immediately to overturn the current ruling, that basically would let judges strike down fda approvals willy nilly. Another chapter in the long book of “judges who think they’re doctors” stupid court rulings. Not to mention issues of standing and many other dubious things in the initial rulings. Just conservative partisan hack judges bending over backwards to get the outcome they want with no good justification.
The conservative SCOTUS will make it worse.
Check out where the ruling stands already:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2811388
It’s hard to imagine a worse ruling. The Biden admin is absolutely right to appeal this and try to preserve access to this drug. Believe it or not there are more extreme conservative judges out there than the supreme court justices. The venue abortion opponents started this case in was particularly selected by abortion opponents, because they know exactly what trial Judge they’ll get, and this Jude will write any random nonsense to restrict abortion access, and has done this on many occasions. Then the appeal goes to the fifth circuit who are very extreme idealogues. Even the supreme court over ruled their extreme opinions six out of seven times in 2019-2020 and five out of seven times 2020-2021.
https://www.theguardian.com/law/2021/nov/15/fifth-circuit-court-appeals-most-extreme-us
But basically, the current ruling from the fifth circuit is so extreme if allowed to stand its hard to fathom how even this supreme court could make the ruling any worse. Abortion access opponents didn’t want the ruling appealed and were hoping the supreme court would not hear the case, so it’s good the supreme court is hearing it. It’s at least a chance at over turning this.
I wouldn’t past the conservative justices to simply use this case to rule all abortion illegal nationwide. Or more likely, will support the decision and tack on additional restrictions by expanding the scope.
Don’t get your hopes up with this SCOTUS, just because they didn’t do it before doesn’t mean they won’t pick a case that they think is more suited to their ambitions.