SCOTUS rules to keep abortion pill legal

Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously rejected a lawsuit yesterday that sought to restrict access to the abortion drug mifepristone.

The case challenged the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of the drug in 2000. The decision allows mifepristone to continue to be available for now.

It was the first major SCOTUS decision on abortion rights in the US since the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade. The move also makes mifepristone available for mail deliveries and telemedicine prescriptions.

The case was brought by a group of anti-abortion doctors who claimed the FDA unlawfully loosened regulations for mifepristone and wanted to restrict access to the drug. The medication is part of the two-pill medicated abortion regimen used in 63% of all abortions in the US, per Guttmacher Institute data.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote that the plaintiffs’ desire to restrict the drug did not qualify them to sue. The court’s stance might influence future challenges to mifepristone.

SCOTUS will soon rule on another abortion-related case out of Idaho in which justices will decide whether the state’s near-total ban on abortion restricts emergency care when a woman’s health is at risk.

In other SCOTUS decisions

• The justices rejected the “Trump Too Small” trademark application.

• In the other case, SCOTUS ruled in favor of Starbucks in a dispute over the firing of seven pro-union workers in Tennessee in 2022.